Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau: Lessons from Africa's First Narco-State

Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau: Lessons from Africa's First Narco-State PDF Author: Davin O'Regan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau: Lessons from Africa's First Narco-State

Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau: Lessons from Africa's First Narco-State PDF Author: Davin O'Regan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau

Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau PDF Author: Africa Strategic Africa Strategic Studies Institute (U.S.)
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160937101
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
This report takes an in-depth look at how the global drug trade has turned the West African nation into a crossroads of instability. Over the past decade, interdiction efforts in the Americas coupled with strong market forces in Europe have resulted in a growing transit of cocaine and other narcotics from Latin America across the Atlantic to West Africa and then into Europe. The report identifies three inter-woven trends that have contributed significantly to Guinea-Bissau's crises: First, a significant deterioration in civil-military relations over the last decade has led to increased political meddling by military officers, fragmentation within the security forces, and a sharp decline in military professionalism, according to the report. Second, a disproportionate concentration of power residing in the presidency has led to intense and oftentimes unproductive competition for control over the Office of the President. Finally, the rise of the narcotics trade in Guinea-Bissau has exacerbated many of the country's governance problems. "[T]he drug trade has amplified the level of instability in the country and refutes the common assumption that transshipment of drugs has a benign effect on the transited country." These events have directly contributed to instability in Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and elsewhere in Africa. Meanwhile, emerging ethnic tensions, especially within the military, have complicated the country's cycle of crises. The report provides detailed recommendations for how to address Guinea-Bissau's complex challenges. The challenges faced by Guinea-Bissau, and the policies and strategies developed to address those challenges, provide valuable lessons for dealing with the challenges of narco-states emerging elsewhere on the continent.

Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau

Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau PDF Author: U. S. Military
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781980746829
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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Book Description
This book examines the deep problems faced by the African nation of Guinea-Bissau. A string of crises stretching back more than a decade has rendered Guinea-Bissau one of the most fragile states in Africa. This recurring cycle of political violence, instability, and incapacitated governance, moreover, has accelerated in recent years, most notably following a military coup in April 2012. Exploiting this volatility, trafficking networks have coopted key political and military leaders and transformed Guinea-Bissau into a hub for illicit commerce, particularly the multibillion dollar international trade in cocaine. This has directly contributed to instability in Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and elsewhere in Africa. European and African organized criminal groups have likewise established ties to the Guinea-Bissau trade. Drawn by the lucrative revenues, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other militant groups in West Africa have also been linked to Guinea-Bissau trafficking. Now commonly referred to as Africa's first narco-state, Guinea-Bissau has become a regional crossroads of instability. Responses to Guinea-Bissau's bouts of crises, however, have tended to be short lived and neglect the country's deep institutional weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Clashes within the military, coups d'etat, and strings of politically motivated killings have been met with condemnation from regional and international partners followed by calls for investigations or a transitional election-but with few genuine reforms. Oftentimes many of the perpetrators of Guinea-Bissau's crises retain or even expand their influence and stature. Meanwhile, economic growth has been episodic, human development indicators have been stagnant, and a humanitarian emergency imperiling 300,000 people looms. Given the sensational nature of these crises, root drivers of instability are consistently overlooked, including a political system marked by the concentration of authority in the executive branch and a security sector that has gradually expanded its involvement in politics. As a result, crises inevitably reemerge. While narcotics traffickers initially targeted Guinea-Bissau because of its weak oversight and governance capacity, the drug trade has dramatically compounded these drivers of instability while spawning others. Despite Guinea-Bissau's serious challenges, some groundwork for reform has been laid by the country's emerging civil society actors and democratic institutions. An independent media sector, several prominent and well-organized human rights groups, an improved police force, and a national legislature that has on occasion demonstrated its influence, represent a potentially vital reform network. These civil society actors and independent reformers are under growing pressure from the increasingly emboldened military and political leadership that has captured escalating trafficking revenues, however. Executive Summary * A Worsening Cycle of Crises and Regional Spillover * Politicization of the Military * Winner Take All * Guns, Drugs, and Illicit Resources * Competition Drawn Along Ethnic Lines * Distrusted International Partners * Analysis: From Fragile States to Narco-States * Recommendations * Political and Governance Reforms * Dealing with the Past * Depoliticization of the Military * Reversing the Narco-State * Pressuring Spoilers * Empowering Civil Society and Independent Media * Harmonizing International Approaches * Conclusion

Organized Crime and Illicit Trade

Organized Crime and Illicit Trade PDF Author: Virginia Comolli
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319729683
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Unlike much of the existing literature on organised crime, this book is less focused on the problem per se as it is on understanding its implications. The latter, especially in fragile and conflict regions, amount to strategic challenges for the state. Whereas most commentators would agree that criminal activities are harmful, this volume addresses the questions of ‘how?’, ‘for whom?’ and, controversially, ‘are they always harmful?’ The volume is authored by experts with multi-year experience analysing criminal and other non-state activities. They do so through different lenses - conflict and security, development, and technology - engaging academics, practitioners and policy makers. They offer a comprehensive integrated response to the challenges of transnational organised crime beyond traditional law-enforcement driven recommendations.

Spatializing Practices of Regional Organizations during Conflict Intervention

Spatializing Practices of Regional Organizations during Conflict Intervention PDF Author: Jens Herpolsheimer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000364216
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
This book studies relevant actors and practices of conflict intervention by African regional organizations and their intimate connection to space-making, addressing a major gap regarding what actually happens within and around these organizations. Based on extensive empirical research, it argues that those intervention practices are essentially spatializing practices, based on particular spatial imaginations, contributing to the continuous construction and formatting of regional spaces as well as to ordering relations between different regional spaces. Analyzing the field of developing practices of conflict intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), the book contributes a new theory-oriented analytical approach to study African regional organizations (ROs) and the complex dynamics of African peace and security, based on insights from Critical Geography. As such, it helps to close an empirical gap with regard to the ‘internal’ modes of operation of African ROs as well as the lack of their theorization. It demonstrates that, contrary to most accounts, intervention practices of African ROs have been diverse and complexly interrelated, involving different actors within and around these organizations, and are essentially tied to the space-making. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of African Politics, Governance, Peace and Security Studies, International or Regional Organizations and more broadly to Comparative Regionalism, International Relations and International Studies.

African security in the twenty-first century

African security in the twenty-first century PDF Author: Stephen Emerson
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526122766
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
This book explores and analyses the evolving African security paradigm in light of the multitude of diverse threats and challenges facing the continent and the international community. It challenges current thinking and traditional security constructs as woefully inadequate to meet the real security needs of African governments and their 1 billion plus citizens in an increasingly globalised and interdependent world. Through the lens of human security the authors’ examine the continent’s most pressing security challenges—from identity conflict and failing states to terrorism, disease, and environmental degradation—and in doing so provide a comprehensive look at the complexities of building peace and stability in modern-day Africa. Not only does the book critically assess the state of progress in addressing security challenges, but it presents new strategies and tools for more effectively engaging Africans and the global community in their common search for solutions.

The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism

The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism PDF Author: Erica Chenoweth
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191047147
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 704

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism systematically integrates the substantial body of scholarship on terrorism and counterterrorism before and after 9/11. In doing so, it introduces scholars and practitioners to state of the art approaches, methods, and issues in studying and teaching these vital phenomena. This Handbook goes further than most existing collections by giving structure and direction to the fast-growing but somewhat disjointed field of terrorism studies. The volume locates terrorism within the wider spectrum of political violence instead of engaging in the widespread tendency towards treating terrorism as an exceptional act. Moreover, the volume makes a case for studying terrorism within its socio-historical context. Finally, the volume addresses the critique that the study of terrorism suffers from lack of theory by reviewing and extending the theoretical insights contributed by several fields - including political science, political economy, history, sociology, anthropology, criminology, law, geography, and psychology. In doing so, the volume showcases the analytical advancements and reflects on the challenges that remain since the emergence of the field in the early 1970s.

Economic Inclusion in Post-Independence Africa

Economic Inclusion in Post-Independence Africa PDF Author: David Mhlanga
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303131431X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
The second in a three-volume series, this edited volume discusses post-independence economic inclusion in selected African countries. While human development indices rise and poverty rates fall across the African continent, facilitated by recent technological and innovation development which reaches previously inaccessible regions, indicators continue to lag in several crucial areas. Economic and social inclusion, therefore, remains at the forefront of development discussions across the continent. Using a variety of case studies underpinned by multidisciplinary research approaches, the chapters in this book explore a wide range of economic and financial inclusion issues from all aspects; from benefits and challenges to the steps that need to be taken to improve the level of economic inclusion on the continent. Governments, development agencies, non-governmental organizations with a bias toward development, students, and university lecturers will all find this book interesting.

Counternetwork

Counternetwork PDF Author: Angel Rabasa
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833094777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
This report presents operational characteristics of transnational criminal networks originating in South America, identifies U.S. government policies and programs to counter these networks, and examines the military's role in that context.

The Greater Maghreb

The Greater Maghreb PDF Author: David Garcia Cantalapiedra
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498588417
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
This book represents a different approach in the study of the Sahel region in North Africa. Due to the hybrid security threats sweeping across the area, the whole region becomes a new security complex different from Middle East and more related to Western and Central Africa developments, including the impact of drug-trafficking coming from Latin America. This book discusses how the Transnational Organized Crime-Terrorism Nexus has created a very different dynamics from Middle East’s, hitting hard to people, societies and states there. The contributors argue that the countries in the area and the European Union should recognize this new complex and respond properly and differently to this situation.