A Political History of the Civil War in Angola, 1974-1990

A Political History of the Civil War in Angola, 1974-1990 PDF Author: W. Martin James III
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351534661
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
When Portugal's colonial rule in Angola ended in 1974, three liberation groups-UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), and MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola)-agreed to a tripartite movement for the fledgling nation. Conflicts quickly arose and the MPLA, with Cuban and Soviet assistance, drove its rivals from the capital, instigating a civil war, which continues into three periods (1975-1991, 1992-94, and 1998-2002). This volume covers the first period, focusing on the political history of the UNITA movement and its struggles with the MPLA. The Angolan civil war was the product of personal jealousies, contrasting ideologies, and ethnic animosities. From its inception, the conflict between UNITA and Angola's Marxist government was an international affair involving the U. S., the USSR, China, and many African states: W. Martin James III, who wrote his book near the close of the first period of civil war, contends that despite Gorbachev's "new thinking" and talk of peaceful solutions to regional conflicts, Soviet policy toward Angola marked a reversion to the Brezhnev Doctrine. The biggest MPLA-Cuban offenses occurred during Gorbachev's tenure with Soviet advisers at the brigade level directing an MPLA offensive. American policy toward Angola is also examined here. This is the first book to emphasize the dynamic role of UNITA in the Angolan liberation movement. James acknowledges that the importance of foreign powers in guaranteeing a government of national reconciliation. Just as important are strategies of compromise requiring trust in a political context where it is violated and submission for the common good where defiance is a remnant of the colonial past. Foreign policy analysts, African area specialists, and scholars of post-colonial history find this volume indispensible.

A Political History of the Civil War in Angola, 1974-1990

A Political History of the Civil War in Angola, 1974-1990 PDF Author: W. Martin James III
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351534661
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
When Portugal's colonial rule in Angola ended in 1974, three liberation groups-UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), and MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola)-agreed to a tripartite movement for the fledgling nation. Conflicts quickly arose and the MPLA, with Cuban and Soviet assistance, drove its rivals from the capital, instigating a civil war, which continues into three periods (1975-1991, 1992-94, and 1998-2002). This volume covers the first period, focusing on the political history of the UNITA movement and its struggles with the MPLA. The Angolan civil war was the product of personal jealousies, contrasting ideologies, and ethnic animosities. From its inception, the conflict between UNITA and Angola's Marxist government was an international affair involving the U. S., the USSR, China, and many African states: W. Martin James III, who wrote his book near the close of the first period of civil war, contends that despite Gorbachev's "new thinking" and talk of peaceful solutions to regional conflicts, Soviet policy toward Angola marked a reversion to the Brezhnev Doctrine. The biggest MPLA-Cuban offenses occurred during Gorbachev's tenure with Soviet advisers at the brigade level directing an MPLA offensive. American policy toward Angola is also examined here. This is the first book to emphasize the dynamic role of UNITA in the Angolan liberation movement. James acknowledges that the importance of foreign powers in guaranteeing a government of national reconciliation. Just as important are strategies of compromise requiring trust in a political context where it is violated and submission for the common good where defiance is a remnant of the colonial past. Foreign policy analysts, African area specialists, and scholars of post-colonial history find this volume indispensible.

A Political History of the Civil War in Angola

A Political History of the Civil War in Angola PDF Author: W. Martin James III
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412816211
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description


The Origins of the Angolan Civil War

The Origins of the Angolan Civil War PDF Author: Fernando Andresen Guimaraes
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230598269
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
An investigation of the origins of the Angolan civil war of 1975-76. By looking at the interaction between internal and external factors, it reveals the domestic roots of the conflict and the impact of foreign intervention on the civil war. The formative influence of colonialism and anti-colonialism on the emergence of Angolan rivalry since 1961 is described, and the externalization of that power struggle is analysed from a perspective of both international and domestic politics.

Nigeria

Nigeria PDF Author: Julius Omozuanvbo Ihonvbere
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781412829755
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Nigeria is in a long-standing crisis. Military rule has suffocated civil society and has entrenched a culture of repression, corruption, and official irresponsibility. The reign of Ibrahim Babangida has resulted in near total economic disaster for the country. The situation is so bad, as Julius Ihonvbere shows, that Nigerians are now saying that the days of colonialism were better. In this major new study, Ihonvbere searches out the sources of Nigeria's predicament. He finds them in the country's historical experience, and the consequences of that experience since gaining political independence. Nigeria has become a society in which its citizens live in fear and its youth emigrate to other countries. It is now impossible to survive in the country without belonging to a certain religion, living in a particular region, having connections with top military officers, and being involved with some form of corruption. Even involvement in drug pushing or extrajudicial murder is no longer considered a crime, but a circumstance of life. Such conditions have encouraged the emergence of several popular organizations. New alliances of students, workers, women, youths, intellectuals, professionals, and the unemployed transcend ethnic, regional, and religious differences. For the author, it is at this emerging level of struggle and interaction that the future of Nigeria lies. This work examines several critical, but often overlooked or underresearched aspects of Nigeria's political economy. Ihonvbere analyzes in detail Nigeria's foreign policy, its economic crisis, the military, the decay of its educational system, and democratization. He pays particular attention to the paradoxical connection between IMF/World Bank-supervised structural adjustment and the struggle for democracy. His book will be of interest to experts hi socioeconomic development, foreign policy analysts, students of military science, and scholars of African politics and history.

Mercenaries in Asymmetric Conflicts

Mercenaries in Asymmetric Conflicts PDF Author: Scott Fitzsimmons
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107026911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Fitzsimmons argues that small mercenary groups must maintain a superior culture to successfully engage and defeat larger and better-equipped opponents.

Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set

Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set PDF Author: Kevin Shillington
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135456690
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1112

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Book Description
Covering the entire continent from Morocco, Libya, and Egypt in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south, and the surrounding islands from Cape Verde in the west to Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles in the east, the Encyclopedia of African History is a new A-Z reference resource on the history of the entire African continent. With entries ranging from the earliest evolution of human beings in Africa to the beginning of the twenty-first century, this comprehensive three volume Encyclopedia is the first reference of this scale and scope. Also includes 99 maps.

Rebels and Robbers

Rebels and Robbers PDF Author: Assis Malaquias
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Rebels and Robbers is about the political economy of violence in post-colonial Angola. This book provides the first comprehensive attempt at analyzing how the military and non-military dynamics of more than four decades of conflict created the structural violence that stubbornly defines Angolan society even in the absence of war. The book clearly demonstrates that the end of the civil war has not ushered in positive peace. The focus on structural violence enables the author to explore the continuities since colonial times, especially in the ways race, class, ethnicity, and power have been used by governing elites as mechanisms to oppress the powerless. Thus, although corruption as structural violence manifesting itself so ubiquitously in Angola today may have been taken to new levels after independence, its origin is unmistakably colonial. Similarly, the zero-sum character of political interactions that defined colonial Angola is yet to be fully exorcized. But there are also important discontinuities. The unabashed propensity to capture public resources for personal aggrandizement is purely post-colonial. So is the tendency toward personal, unaccountable rule. Given its rich endowments, the end of the civil war provides Angola with an opportunity to finally realize its developmental potential. This will depend on whether the wealth resulting from the exploration of natural resources is directed toward creating the conditions for the citizens " realization of their aspirations for the good life thus ensuring sustainable peace. This book will be valuable to academics, practitioners, and the general public interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the political economy of violence in Africa and, more specifically, the interplay between violence, wealth and power in Angola.

The A to Z of Civil Wars in Africa

The A to Z of Civil Wars in Africa PDF Author: Guy Arnold
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810870487
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
Ever since the end of World War II, and even more so since 1960, when 17 African colonies became independent of colonial rule, the African continent has been ravaged by a series of wars. These wars have ranged from liberation struggles against former colonial powers to power struggles between different factions in the aftermath of independence. They have ranged from border wars between newly independent states to civil wars between ethnic groups. As with many conflicts, outside forces were drawn into these wars, and major powers outside the continent intervened on one side or the other for a variety of reasons: political ideology, Cold War considerations, ethnic alignments, and stemming the flow of violence. Whether referring to Algeria's struggle for independence from French colonial rule, Nigeria's internal struggles to achieve a balanced state after the British departure, the Rwandan genocide of 1994, or the current ethnic cleansing in Darfur, The A to Z of Civil Wars in Africa covers all of the wars that have occurred in Africa since independence. This is done through a chronology broken down by country, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and cross-referenced dictionary entries covering the wars, conflicts, major political and military figures, child soldiers, mercenaries, and blood diamonds.

A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa

A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa PDF Author: Patrick Chabal
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253215659
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
" . . . useful, timely, and important . . . a good and informative book on the Lusophone countries, Portuguese colonialism, and postcolonial influences." —Phyllis Martin, Indiana University "This book, produced by the obvious—and distinguished—corps of country specialists . . . fills a real gap in both state-level and 'regional' (broadly defined) studies of contemporary Africa." —Norrie MacQueen, University of Dundee Although the five Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa that gained independence in 1974/75—Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé e Príncipe—differ from each other in many ways, they share a history of Portuguese rule going back to the 15th century, which has left a mark to this day. Patrick Chabal and his co-authors assess the nature of the Portuguese legacy, using a twofold approach. In Part I, three analytical, thematic chapters by Chabal examine what the five countries have in common and how they differ from the rest of Africa. In Part II, individual chapters by leading specialists, each devoted to a specific country, survey the histories of those countries since independence. The book places the postcolonial experience of the Lusophone countries within the context of their precolonial and colonial past and compares and contrasts their experience with that of non-Lusophone African states. The result is a comprehensive, readable, and up-to-date text and reference work on the evolution of postcolonial Portuguese-speaking Africa.

The Wartime Origins of Democratization

The Wartime Origins of Democratization PDF Author: Reyko Huang
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107166713
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Why do some countries democratize after civil war? Huang argues that war can foment popular demand for radical political change.