海角大神

A version of this post originally appeared on the author's blog, The views expressed are the author's own.

Stability is not a term one would use to describe the聽Central African Republic (CAR), and particularly not in light of the recent conflict which has engulfed the country.

Last December, the聽S茅l茅ka rebel coalition challenged then-President聽Fran莽ois Boziz茅's grasp on power and eventually ousted him in March 2013. At first, the international response to the humanitarian and human rights crises that have ensued was muted. Eventually, over the summer, the African Union launched聽an International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA), with an聽authorized force strength of 3,600,聽to help protect civilians and provide security throughout the country.

MISCA, which聽may not be operational until 2014, the聽Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)聽Mission聽for the Consolidation of Peace in the Central African Republic (MICOPAX) in聽August 2013,聽which had been in CAR聽聽with 400 soldiers.

Former colonial power France, which from preventing Mr. Boziz茅's collapse earlier this year, has 400 soldiers in the capital city of Bangui to protect their interests, and is .

Finally, the UN Security Council is also considering authorizing a peacekeeping mission for CAR, but it - even with a speedy UNSC Resolution. Therefore, the French and AU forces would have to act as a stopgap measure until the UN would be able to put boots on the ground.

The question is,聽after this crisis has been unfolding for almost a year, why is an international response only coming together now?

Here are some possible reasons:聽

First, perhaps the international community was inundated by the response to the crises in Mali. Note that France's聽Op茅rationServal commenced in January, for the African-led聽International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) from September to mid-January. The聽S茅l茅ka rebel coalition that eventually toppled聽Boziz茅 commenced their rebellion around mid-December 2012, in mid-January 2013, and entered Bangui to overthrow聽Boziz茅 for failing to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire at the end of March 2013.

If you think about it, the time period between the initiation of the聽S茅l茅ka rebellion and the current rumblings of an international response has been more or less dominated by the French intervention in Mali, the AFISMA deployment, transition to the UN's聽Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), and Mali's presidential and legislative elections. And now that Mali is in a better pace than it was last year at this time, the international community now has the bandwidth to turn to the next pressing crisis on the continent - the Central African Republic.

Second, perhaps the humanitarian toll has risen too high.聽Approximately one-tenth of the country's population, or聽聽fleeing the communal violence between 海角大神s and Muslims (15 percent of the population), and over聽聽in聽neighboring countries.聽

聽have documented the destruction of over 1,000 homes between March and June 2013. (See satellite images of聽).

Third, people are starting to say the "T-word." As the Central African Republic continues to spiral into anarchy, there is that terrorist groups, like Nigeria's Boko Haram, could set up shop in the country. Although such reports are unconfirmed, the mere presence of an unstable territory may make it an attractive safe haven for terrorist or criminal actors with regional or even global agendas.

Fourth, p Whether genocide is -- or is not -- occurring in a given conflict, using the "G-word" is supposed to聽.

My personal view is that tends to be overused, and as a result, genocide has been conflated with "mass killing," and more generally with 聽"human rights abuses" or "crimes against humanity," thus distancing it from its true meaning. Therefore, whether or not genocide is actually occurring in the聽Central African Republic, any response would have to be measured against the international community's failure to respond to allegations of genocide in places like and .

To sum up: the true reason for the recent focus on the conflict in the Central African Republic, albeit belated, may be a combination of two or more of the aforementioned factors.

Now, as with regional and international attempts to respond to previous crises in Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), we shall see if the international community can put its money and military might where its mouth is.