Background Notes

Background Notes

Author: United States. Department of State. Office of Public Communication

Publisher:

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13:

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Series of short, factual pamphlets on the countries of the world.


Liberia

Liberia

Author: John-Peter Pham

Publisher: Reed Press(NY)

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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"In this utterly depressing account of the west African nation's history and politics, scholar and diplomat Pham offers a cautionary tale regarding Western intervention in Africa. Colonized by free American blacks in the early 19th century, Liberia has long been beset by tensions, not only among its native populations but between natives and the descendants of its Western colonizers. But Pham is no knee-jerk blame-the-West critic- far from it. As he points out, Western investment, by Firestone and other rubber companies, "served as the principal catalyst for Liberia's infrastructure." The author does, however, acknowledge that the workers were paid little for the labor that enriched the rubber companies, and that tribal chiefs were given a cut for the toil of their villagers. Liberia's worst times have come in the past two decades, with rampant corruption and civil war. In Pham's eyes, nation-states have failed, in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa, for a variety of reasons: tribal and ethnic tensions and the end of the Cold War, which allowed weak states propped up by the superpowers to tumble. Pham argues that these states must take responsibility for their own reconstruction and reconstitution as democratic nations, without Western intervention, if they are ever to emerge from their current struggle"--from Publisher's Weekly, quoted on amazon.com.


Desk Study on the Environment in Liberia

Desk Study on the Environment in Liberia

Author:

Publisher: UNEP/Earthprint

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9280724037

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This study conducts an assessment of the most pressing environmental issues facing post conflict Liberia. It provides an overview of Liberias environment in the context of 14 years of conflict and makes recommendations aimed at integrating environmental management into the reconstruction efforts in Liberia.


Why Peace Fails

Why Peace Fails

Author: Charles T. Call

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

Published: 2012-04-03

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 9781589018952

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Why does peace fail? More precisely, why do some countries that show every sign of having successfully emerged from civil war fall once again into armed conflict? What explains why peace "sticks" after some wars but not others? In this illuminating study, Charles T. Call examines the factors behind fifteen cases of civil war recurrence in Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, and Latin America. He argues that widely touted explanations of civil war—such as poverty, conflict over natural resources, and weak states—are far less important than political exclusion. Call’s study shows that inclusion of former opponents in postwar governance plays a decisive role in sustained peace. Why Peace Fails ultimately suggests that the international community should resist the temptation to prematurely withdraw resources and peacekeepers after a transition from war. Instead, international actors must remain fully engaged with postwar elected governments, ensuring that they make room for former enemies.