Author: agi Yorro Jallow
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1491806613
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
The media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy and vibrant democracy. It is the backbone of any functioning democracy. This book evaluates the role of the news media in The Gambia, in a variety of contexts and the major constraints and challenges which prevent journalism from fulfilling these ideal roles, and the most effective policy interventions available to strengthen the contribution of the news media to both democratic governance and human development. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between the Gambian Press and the military and quasi-military regimes in The Gambia, in the context of press freedom. This book examines in great detail decrees and laws enacted by the AFPRC-APRC regimes which restricted press freedom during the period of military rule in The Gambia and also in the post-coup era. Furthermore, it identifies and analyses the institutional, legal and non-legal measures and mechanisms utilized by the AFPRC-APRC regimes in controlling the Gambian press from 1994 to date. This work also examines both direct and indirect forms of manipulation the Jammeh regime usedforms that have ranged from selective assassination, extra-constitutional decrees, and promulgation of retroactive laws, to bribery, compulsion to self-censorship, and the offer (and acceptance) of lucrative press relations jobs in the government. This work attempts to address this question: how far can autocracies strengthen popular support by silencing dissent and manipulating the news? The many ways that autocracies seek to control the media are documented. How far has the Gambian leader, with the restrictive media environment in the country, succeeded in manipulating public opinion and strengthening his support at home?
Delayed Democracy:How Press Freedom Collapsed in Gambia
Author: agi Yorro Jallow
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1491806613
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
The media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy and vibrant democracy. It is the backbone of any functioning democracy. This book evaluates the role of the news media in The Gambia, in a variety of contexts and the major constraints and challenges which prevent journalism from fulfilling these ideal roles, and the most effective policy interventions available to strengthen the contribution of the news media to both democratic governance and human development. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between the Gambian Press and the military and quasi-military regimes in The Gambia, in the context of press freedom. This book examines in great detail decrees and laws enacted by the AFPRC-APRC regimes which restricted press freedom during the period of military rule in The Gambia and also in the post-coup era. Furthermore, it identifies and analyses the institutional, legal and non-legal measures and mechanisms utilized by the AFPRC-APRC regimes in controlling the Gambian press from 1994 to date. This work also examines both direct and indirect forms of manipulation the Jammeh regime usedforms that have ranged from selective assassination, extra-constitutional decrees, and promulgation of retroactive laws, to bribery, compulsion to self-censorship, and the offer (and acceptance) of lucrative press relations jobs in the government. This work attempts to address this question: how far can autocracies strengthen popular support by silencing dissent and manipulating the news? The many ways that autocracies seek to control the media are documented. How far has the Gambian leader, with the restrictive media environment in the country, succeeded in manipulating public opinion and strengthening his support at home?
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1491806613
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
The media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy and vibrant democracy. It is the backbone of any functioning democracy. This book evaluates the role of the news media in The Gambia, in a variety of contexts and the major constraints and challenges which prevent journalism from fulfilling these ideal roles, and the most effective policy interventions available to strengthen the contribution of the news media to both democratic governance and human development. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between the Gambian Press and the military and quasi-military regimes in The Gambia, in the context of press freedom. This book examines in great detail decrees and laws enacted by the AFPRC-APRC regimes which restricted press freedom during the period of military rule in The Gambia and also in the post-coup era. Furthermore, it identifies and analyses the institutional, legal and non-legal measures and mechanisms utilized by the AFPRC-APRC regimes in controlling the Gambian press from 1994 to date. This work also examines both direct and indirect forms of manipulation the Jammeh regime usedforms that have ranged from selective assassination, extra-constitutional decrees, and promulgation of retroactive laws, to bribery, compulsion to self-censorship, and the offer (and acceptance) of lucrative press relations jobs in the government. This work attempts to address this question: how far can autocracies strengthen popular support by silencing dissent and manipulating the news? The many ways that autocracies seek to control the media are documented. How far has the Gambian leader, with the restrictive media environment in the country, succeeded in manipulating public opinion and strengthening his support at home?
Political Liberalization and Democratization in Africa
Author: Julius O. Ihonvbere
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313051518
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Since the late 1980s, Africans have been engaged in efforts to transform their societies and provide themselves with more effective governance and economic structures. Unfortunately, most of these efforts have not progressed beyond simple elections. The contributors to this volume provide strategies that Africans can use to deepen democracy, improve resource allocation, and enhance their ability to coexist peacefully. Mbaku, Ihonvbere, and their contributors, while adopting a critical approach to the study of African political economy, take a stand against Afro-pessimism. They articulate an holistic agenda for addressing Africa's mulitfarious problems, reject received knowledge, and, through a dialectical methodology, draw attention to the centrality of social categories/classes, the state, civil society, the environment, communities, and patterns of change in the continent. Relying on fieldwork, hard data, and critical reviews of the extant literature, the volume highlights the importance of democracy and democratization to the urgent restructuring that Africa needs in the new globalization. Paying attention to the continent's historical experiences and its specificities, the contributors draw attention to the importance of grassroots action, leadership, and the need to constitutionally entrench civil liberties.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313051518
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Since the late 1980s, Africans have been engaged in efforts to transform their societies and provide themselves with more effective governance and economic structures. Unfortunately, most of these efforts have not progressed beyond simple elections. The contributors to this volume provide strategies that Africans can use to deepen democracy, improve resource allocation, and enhance their ability to coexist peacefully. Mbaku, Ihonvbere, and their contributors, while adopting a critical approach to the study of African political economy, take a stand against Afro-pessimism. They articulate an holistic agenda for addressing Africa's mulitfarious problems, reject received knowledge, and, through a dialectical methodology, draw attention to the centrality of social categories/classes, the state, civil society, the environment, communities, and patterns of change in the continent. Relying on fieldwork, hard data, and critical reviews of the extant literature, the volume highlights the importance of democracy and democratization to the urgent restructuring that Africa needs in the new globalization. Paying attention to the continent's historical experiences and its specificities, the contributors draw attention to the importance of grassroots action, leadership, and the need to constitutionally entrench civil liberties.
The Paradox of Third-Wave Democratization in Africa
Author: Abdoulaye Saine
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 073913504X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
This book is about the dilemma(s) of 'third-wave' 'democratization' in Africa. It teases out the general proposition that while the market is a necessary ingredient for development, it is not by itself a sufficient condition for prosperity_the state's role, policy framework, and leadership also matter. Using a counter-example, the book contends that in a poor governance environment, gross human rights violations result in poor economic performance and failure by repressive governments to provide basic needs for the poor in society. While this study is concerned primarily with The Gambia, it nonetheless has a lot to say about Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and other countries in the continent caught in the paralysis of externally driven political and economic transitions and globalization. Locating countries undergoing liberalization and democratization within the global economy_as well as their peripheral status within it_is important, as patterns of contemporary globalization are highly asymmetrical and often associated with a democratic deficit. Consequently, some groups, classes, and states enjoy numerous political and economic freedoms foreign to the vast majority of humanity, which lives in oppressive living conditions. The Paradox of Third-Wave Democratization in Africa is also a comprehensive account of the historical, political, and economic events since the onset of military and quasi-military rule in this West African mini-state of 1.5 million, once the longest surviving functioning democracy in Africa. Predictably, the book is about former President Dawda Jawara as much as it is about soldier-turned-president Yahya Jammeh, who in the last fourteen years has dominated the country's political and economic landscape. In the end, the book posits that various attempts to improve living standards of ordinary Gambians and Africans by client regimes using foisted conventional market-driven economic models alone are not likely to succeed until they are predicated on a basic-needs economic strategy and organically spawned political structures. Finally, the book highlights transnational political and economic ties Diaspora Gambians have established with The Gambia and their attempts to both shape and nudge politics in the second republic in a more democratic direction.
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 073913504X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
This book is about the dilemma(s) of 'third-wave' 'democratization' in Africa. It teases out the general proposition that while the market is a necessary ingredient for development, it is not by itself a sufficient condition for prosperity_the state's role, policy framework, and leadership also matter. Using a counter-example, the book contends that in a poor governance environment, gross human rights violations result in poor economic performance and failure by repressive governments to provide basic needs for the poor in society. While this study is concerned primarily with The Gambia, it nonetheless has a lot to say about Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and other countries in the continent caught in the paralysis of externally driven political and economic transitions and globalization. Locating countries undergoing liberalization and democratization within the global economy_as well as their peripheral status within it_is important, as patterns of contemporary globalization are highly asymmetrical and often associated with a democratic deficit. Consequently, some groups, classes, and states enjoy numerous political and economic freedoms foreign to the vast majority of humanity, which lives in oppressive living conditions. The Paradox of Third-Wave Democratization in Africa is also a comprehensive account of the historical, political, and economic events since the onset of military and quasi-military rule in this West African mini-state of 1.5 million, once the longest surviving functioning democracy in Africa. Predictably, the book is about former President Dawda Jawara as much as it is about soldier-turned-president Yahya Jammeh, who in the last fourteen years has dominated the country's political and economic landscape. In the end, the book posits that various attempts to improve living standards of ordinary Gambians and Africans by client regimes using foisted conventional market-driven economic models alone are not likely to succeed until they are predicated on a basic-needs economic strategy and organically spawned political structures. Finally, the book highlights transnational political and economic ties Diaspora Gambians have established with The Gambia and their attempts to both shape and nudge politics in the second republic in a more democratic direction.
The Military and 'democratisation' in the Gambia
Author: Ebrima Jogomai Ceesay
Publisher: Trafford on Demand Pub
ISBN: 9781425101039
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345
Book Description
This book provides an account of significant political developments in a small West African country, The Gambia, about which such information is not readily available. It is a robustly written account of the very fluid politics of The Gambia over the last ten years since the coup that ousted President Dawda Jawara. The author is able to bring an enviable amount of first-hand understanding to the case at hand. He was a newspaper editor in The Gambia and also a correspondent there for the BBC. The book addresses a subject of much current interest in the wider development and policy-related literatures and much of the information makes an original contribution to knowledge in the area of democracy and military rule in The Gambia. The study thus constitutes an original contribution to the growing scholarship on The Gambia. It also makes a contribution to the existing literature on democratisation and the military in West Africa.The book undertakes the much needed research into recent political developments in The Gambia, and sets this in the wider context of West African politics. It provides an in-depth study of events in The Gambia prior to and post 1994 and examines The Gambian case in a theoretical context pertaining to Africa in general, and the West African sub-region in particular.The fundamental concern of this book is to determine whether it is possible for a nation to democratise under 'military' rule. Following the 1994 coup d'etat, The Gambia had military rule until 1997. After two Presidential elections, it remained under 'quasi-military' rule, the military having merely been thinly disguised in civilian clothes. The central argument of this book is that in the case of The Gambia, it has not been possible to democratise under either 'military' or 'quasi-military' rule. The country is far from being democratic and the democratisation process has barely begun. The Gambia operates under an authoritarian regime with strong military overtones.The 1994 coup d'etat in The Gambia took place at a time when most of Africa was moving towards democratisation. At the same time, The Gambia moved away from democratisation and into military dictatorship. This Gambian "exceptionalism" in recent regional, continental and global political development is explained and analysed in the book. The study presents a conceptual and empirical analysis of the recent "democratisation" processes under the military and military-turned civilian regimes in The Gambia. It uses conceptual or analytical insights, drawn from the general literature on military regimes in Africa, to inform understanding of the case study. The book raises a number of very pertinent questions concerning the place of the military in a modern African polity, and the varied contexts and contested nature of this role.The book sets out to assess the military regime that seized power in The Gambia in July 1994, and which remains in power to the present day - having formally converted itself into an "elected" civilian regime through managed elections from which the military leader emerged victorious.It is broadly concerned with four themes: a) pre-independence politics in The Gambia, the Jawara years and the causes of his overthrow; b) the coup d'etat that brought the military regime to power on 22 July 1994; c) the subsequent conduct of the military regime, with particular concern for its attempt to legitimise itself through elections; and d) the question of whether The Gambia can be regarded as a democracy, to which the author has returned a decided negative.Four main questions are posed. What were the causes of the military coup in The Gambia? What were the various phases of military rule? How has the military performed in office? Has The Gambia returned to a functioning democratic state following the 1996 and 2001 elections? The findings indicate that the military intervention was prompted by a combination of political, economic and social problems in the country. The 1994 coup d'etat in The Gambia is best seen as the outcome of two main variables: the societal/economic/political factors which made military intervention a possibility, set against the motivations of junior officers of the Gambia National Army to intervene in the government of The Gambia because of their own dissatisfactions and possible personal aspirations. Direct military rule was in two phases and the military's leadership performance was poor in respect of human and civil rights in both phases, although there were some modest gains in socio-economic terms. Despite the holding of elections, The Gambia remains undemocratic.The study is based on newspaper reports, interviews and the author's own experiences as a journalist in The Gambia until his departure from the country in 1996, together with published sources. The empirical element in the book is accompanied by a survey of literature in the field, notably relating to military regimes in general, and especially in Africa. The treatment of empirical developments and academic sources in the book is both descriptive and conceptual.The ten chapters (including a general conclusion) which make up the book are logically structured; general aims and objectives, which are clearly identified in the introductory chapter, are pursued in a sustained way in the subsequent discussion. Early presentations of approach, objectives and strategy combine with overviews of pre-1994 politics and economics in the opening two chapters. Along with the summary of the circumstances surrounding the military's intervention in politics in 1994 (Chapter 3), these serve as a prelude to the detailed evaluation of the military's performance in government; and the circumstances, processes and consequences of the army's transformation into a "democratic" civilian (in reality a "quasi-military") regime, which constitutes the middle third, and core, of the book.The final third of the book focuses on the fortunes of both democracy and politics under a quasi-military regime, and tries to draw lessons from this experience for a serious consideration of the role of the military in democratic politics. The penultimate chapter offers recommendations for deterring future coups in The Gambia and elsewhere in Africa, while a general conclusion presents a cogent summary of the principal findings and conclusions.
Publisher: Trafford on Demand Pub
ISBN: 9781425101039
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345
Book Description
This book provides an account of significant political developments in a small West African country, The Gambia, about which such information is not readily available. It is a robustly written account of the very fluid politics of The Gambia over the last ten years since the coup that ousted President Dawda Jawara. The author is able to bring an enviable amount of first-hand understanding to the case at hand. He was a newspaper editor in The Gambia and also a correspondent there for the BBC. The book addresses a subject of much current interest in the wider development and policy-related literatures and much of the information makes an original contribution to knowledge in the area of democracy and military rule in The Gambia. The study thus constitutes an original contribution to the growing scholarship on The Gambia. It also makes a contribution to the existing literature on democratisation and the military in West Africa.The book undertakes the much needed research into recent political developments in The Gambia, and sets this in the wider context of West African politics. It provides an in-depth study of events in The Gambia prior to and post 1994 and examines The Gambian case in a theoretical context pertaining to Africa in general, and the West African sub-region in particular.The fundamental concern of this book is to determine whether it is possible for a nation to democratise under 'military' rule. Following the 1994 coup d'etat, The Gambia had military rule until 1997. After two Presidential elections, it remained under 'quasi-military' rule, the military having merely been thinly disguised in civilian clothes. The central argument of this book is that in the case of The Gambia, it has not been possible to democratise under either 'military' or 'quasi-military' rule. The country is far from being democratic and the democratisation process has barely begun. The Gambia operates under an authoritarian regime with strong military overtones.The 1994 coup d'etat in The Gambia took place at a time when most of Africa was moving towards democratisation. At the same time, The Gambia moved away from democratisation and into military dictatorship. This Gambian "exceptionalism" in recent regional, continental and global political development is explained and analysed in the book. The study presents a conceptual and empirical analysis of the recent "democratisation" processes under the military and military-turned civilian regimes in The Gambia. It uses conceptual or analytical insights, drawn from the general literature on military regimes in Africa, to inform understanding of the case study. The book raises a number of very pertinent questions concerning the place of the military in a modern African polity, and the varied contexts and contested nature of this role.The book sets out to assess the military regime that seized power in The Gambia in July 1994, and which remains in power to the present day - having formally converted itself into an "elected" civilian regime through managed elections from which the military leader emerged victorious.It is broadly concerned with four themes: a) pre-independence politics in The Gambia, the Jawara years and the causes of his overthrow; b) the coup d'etat that brought the military regime to power on 22 July 1994; c) the subsequent conduct of the military regime, with particular concern for its attempt to legitimise itself through elections; and d) the question of whether The Gambia can be regarded as a democracy, to which the author has returned a decided negative.Four main questions are posed. What were the causes of the military coup in The Gambia? What were the various phases of military rule? How has the military performed in office? Has The Gambia returned to a functioning democratic state following the 1996 and 2001 elections? The findings indicate that the military intervention was prompted by a combination of political, economic and social problems in the country. The 1994 coup d'etat in The Gambia is best seen as the outcome of two main variables: the societal/economic/political factors which made military intervention a possibility, set against the motivations of junior officers of the Gambia National Army to intervene in the government of The Gambia because of their own dissatisfactions and possible personal aspirations. Direct military rule was in two phases and the military's leadership performance was poor in respect of human and civil rights in both phases, although there were some modest gains in socio-economic terms. Despite the holding of elections, The Gambia remains undemocratic.The study is based on newspaper reports, interviews and the author's own experiences as a journalist in The Gambia until his departure from the country in 1996, together with published sources. The empirical element in the book is accompanied by a survey of literature in the field, notably relating to military regimes in general, and especially in Africa. The treatment of empirical developments and academic sources in the book is both descriptive and conceptual.The ten chapters (including a general conclusion) which make up the book are logically structured; general aims and objectives, which are clearly identified in the introductory chapter, are pursued in a sustained way in the subsequent discussion. Early presentations of approach, objectives and strategy combine with overviews of pre-1994 politics and economics in the opening two chapters. Along with the summary of the circumstances surrounding the military's intervention in politics in 1994 (Chapter 3), these serve as a prelude to the detailed evaluation of the military's performance in government; and the circumstances, processes and consequences of the army's transformation into a "democratic" civilian (in reality a "quasi-military") regime, which constitutes the middle third, and core, of the book.The final third of the book focuses on the fortunes of both democracy and politics under a quasi-military regime, and tries to draw lessons from this experience for a serious consideration of the role of the military in democratic politics. The penultimate chapter offers recommendations for deterring future coups in The Gambia and elsewhere in Africa, while a general conclusion presents a cogent summary of the principal findings and conclusions.
Promoting Accountability under International Law for Gross Human Rights Violations in Africa
Author: Charles Chernor Jalloh
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004271759
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 657
Book Description
Promoting Accountability under International Law for Gross Human Rights Violations in Africa is pre-eminently a study on the work and contribution of the first international judicial mechanism, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), devoted exclusively to challenging impunity for serious international crimes committed in Africa. This volume is dedicated to the eminent international jurist Justice Hassan Bubacar Jallow, the Tribunal’s longest serving Chief Prosecutor and the first prosecutor of the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. The noted scholar and practitioner contributors discuss various aspects of the law, jurisprudence and practice of the Tribunal over its twenty year existence, while also drawing lessons for current and future international courts such as the International Criminal Court. Themes covered include the role of the international prosecutor; the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes; the relationship between national and international courts; the role of other international institutions in challenging impunity; and the role of African languages in international criminal trials. Given its wide ranging substantive coverage, this book will be invaluable to anyone interested in criminal justice, human rights and humanitarian law whether in Africa or other parts of the world.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004271759
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 657
Book Description
Promoting Accountability under International Law for Gross Human Rights Violations in Africa is pre-eminently a study on the work and contribution of the first international judicial mechanism, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), devoted exclusively to challenging impunity for serious international crimes committed in Africa. This volume is dedicated to the eminent international jurist Justice Hassan Bubacar Jallow, the Tribunal’s longest serving Chief Prosecutor and the first prosecutor of the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. The noted scholar and practitioner contributors discuss various aspects of the law, jurisprudence and practice of the Tribunal over its twenty year existence, while also drawing lessons for current and future international courts such as the International Criminal Court. Themes covered include the role of the international prosecutor; the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes; the relationship between national and international courts; the role of other international institutions in challenging impunity; and the role of African languages in international criminal trials. Given its wide ranging substantive coverage, this book will be invaluable to anyone interested in criminal justice, human rights and humanitarian law whether in Africa or other parts of the world.
Political Roles and Military Rulers
Author: Amos Perlmutter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135168490
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This book represents three decades of Perlmutter's experiences and observations. The author studies the relationship between the military and politics in Middle East, focusing mainly on Egypt as a case study. He concludes by analysing the effect this internal relationship has on military performance.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135168490
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This book represents three decades of Perlmutter's experiences and observations. The author studies the relationship between the military and politics in Middle East, focusing mainly on Egypt as a case study. He concludes by analysing the effect this internal relationship has on military performance.
Index to Theses with Abstracts Accepted for Higher Degrees by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland and the Council for National Academic Awards
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia
Author: Godfrey Mwakikagile
Publisher: Continental Press
ISBN: 9987932223
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 3
Book Description
This work is a comprehensive look at The Gambia as a country and as a nation. Subjects covered include a general history of the country, its geography - regions and towns - and its people. It's also a profile of the country's demographic composition. The author looks at the different ethnic groups and their cultures and how they have been able to achieve unity in diversity in one of the most peaceful countries on the African continent. The work is also a study in regional integration with a focus on the Senegambia confederation. The author draws parallels between the short-lived Senegambia confederation and the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar shedding some light on some of the problems African countries face in their quest for unity. The collapse of the Senegambia confederation is in sharp contrast with the unity The Gambia has achieved within as nation. One of Gambia's most outstanding features is ethnic and cultural integration in spite of the cultural and historical differences among the country's different ethnic groups. People going to The Gambia for the first time may find this work to be useful. It's not a tourist guide but an introductory work covering a wide range of subjects on Africa's smallest country. Members of the general public who want to learn about The Gambia will also find this work to be helpful. The author has also taken a scholarly approach on a number of subjects using well-documented sources in an analytical context and has provided useful insights into the complexities of the country across the spectrum, addressing a wide range of subjects including ethnicity, cultural fusion, and national integration. He also contends that understanding ethnicity as a phenomenon and as an analytical tool and a conceptual framework is critical to any study of African countries most of which are multi-ethnic societies; and that the spatial theory of ethnicity is not applicable in all contexts including Gambia where the opposite - of what the theory says - is true. The work may therefore be useful to students and scholars who are interested in The Gambia. But it should be seen as a general work on The Gambia in spite of the academic approach the author has taken in his analysis of a number of subjects on this country which is also known as a gateway to West Africa.
Publisher: Continental Press
ISBN: 9987932223
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 3
Book Description
This work is a comprehensive look at The Gambia as a country and as a nation. Subjects covered include a general history of the country, its geography - regions and towns - and its people. It's also a profile of the country's demographic composition. The author looks at the different ethnic groups and their cultures and how they have been able to achieve unity in diversity in one of the most peaceful countries on the African continent. The work is also a study in regional integration with a focus on the Senegambia confederation. The author draws parallels between the short-lived Senegambia confederation and the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar shedding some light on some of the problems African countries face in their quest for unity. The collapse of the Senegambia confederation is in sharp contrast with the unity The Gambia has achieved within as nation. One of Gambia's most outstanding features is ethnic and cultural integration in spite of the cultural and historical differences among the country's different ethnic groups. People going to The Gambia for the first time may find this work to be useful. It's not a tourist guide but an introductory work covering a wide range of subjects on Africa's smallest country. Members of the general public who want to learn about The Gambia will also find this work to be helpful. The author has also taken a scholarly approach on a number of subjects using well-documented sources in an analytical context and has provided useful insights into the complexities of the country across the spectrum, addressing a wide range of subjects including ethnicity, cultural fusion, and national integration. He also contends that understanding ethnicity as a phenomenon and as an analytical tool and a conceptual framework is critical to any study of African countries most of which are multi-ethnic societies; and that the spatial theory of ethnicity is not applicable in all contexts including Gambia where the opposite - of what the theory says - is true. The work may therefore be useful to students and scholars who are interested in The Gambia. But it should be seen as a general work on The Gambia in spite of the academic approach the author has taken in his analysis of a number of subjects on this country which is also known as a gateway to West Africa.
Democracy by Force
Author: Karin von Hippel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521659550
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Since the end of the Cold War, the international community, and the USA in particular, has intervened in a series of civil conflicts around the world. In a number of cases, where actions such as economic sanctions or diplomatic pressures have failed, military interventions have been undertaken. This 1999 book examines four US-sponsored interventions (Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia), focusing on efforts to reconstruct the state which have followed military action. Such nation-building is vital if conflict is not to recur. In each of the four cases, Karin von Hippel considers the factors which led the USA to intervene, the path of military intervention, and the nation-building efforts which followed. The book seeks to provide a greater understanding of the successes and failures of US policy, to improve strategies for reconstruction, and to provide some insight into the conditions under which intervention and nation-building are likely to succeed.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521659550
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Since the end of the Cold War, the international community, and the USA in particular, has intervened in a series of civil conflicts around the world. In a number of cases, where actions such as economic sanctions or diplomatic pressures have failed, military interventions have been undertaken. This 1999 book examines four US-sponsored interventions (Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia), focusing on efforts to reconstruct the state which have followed military action. Such nation-building is vital if conflict is not to recur. In each of the four cases, Karin von Hippel considers the factors which led the USA to intervene, the path of military intervention, and the nation-building efforts which followed. The book seeks to provide a greater understanding of the successes and failures of US policy, to improve strategies for reconstruction, and to provide some insight into the conditions under which intervention and nation-building are likely to succeed.
Not Yet Democracy
Author: Boubacar N'Diaye
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
In a way, this book is historically a sequence to Kenyan statesman Ojinga Odinga's Not Yet Uhuru. It echoes his admonition, a generation ago, that ominous indications in the policies, behavior, and attitudes suggested that freedom was not, as yet, achieved even as colonialism came to an end. More than a decade into the democratization era, Not Yet Democracy's scrutiny of one third of West African states similarly suggests that, generally, the sub-region most affected by militarism and autocratic rule is emerging from the gripping embrace of authoritarianism extremely slowly indeed. Through a close analysis of an edifying sample of states, this book documents and illustrates how the experiment of abandoning authoritarianism has typically unfolded in West Africa. It singularly contributes theoretically and empirically to the ongoing debate both in academia and in popular circles on the pace, prospects, and dynamics of democratization and de-militarization of political life in the sub-region. The authors highlight the historical continuity both of military interference and elite rivalries over state control discernable in the agonizingly slow and unsettled transformation of West Africa's political landscape. The study is also a critical exposé of how the post-1990s crop of political leaders have (mis)handled the second chance afforded them to grant Africans long-denied basic human, political, and civic rights, which were, after all, the main promise of political independence a generation ago. The book proceeds on the analytical proposition that, against the background of shared praetorianism and military politicization, there is a discernable connection between the singular itineraries West African regimes have followed in their unsteady efforts to overcome a damning history of authoritarianism. The five chapters richly illustrate these intricate connections and their implications for the fortunes of the democratization movement in the sub-region as a whole. A sobering conclusion is that it will take time and much disillusionment for entrenched militarism and anti-democratic practices to disappear from West Africa. "This is a thorough study of democratization and authoritarianism in West Africa. Summing Up: Recommended." -- CHOICE Magazine, 2005
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
In a way, this book is historically a sequence to Kenyan statesman Ojinga Odinga's Not Yet Uhuru. It echoes his admonition, a generation ago, that ominous indications in the policies, behavior, and attitudes suggested that freedom was not, as yet, achieved even as colonialism came to an end. More than a decade into the democratization era, Not Yet Democracy's scrutiny of one third of West African states similarly suggests that, generally, the sub-region most affected by militarism and autocratic rule is emerging from the gripping embrace of authoritarianism extremely slowly indeed. Through a close analysis of an edifying sample of states, this book documents and illustrates how the experiment of abandoning authoritarianism has typically unfolded in West Africa. It singularly contributes theoretically and empirically to the ongoing debate both in academia and in popular circles on the pace, prospects, and dynamics of democratization and de-militarization of political life in the sub-region. The authors highlight the historical continuity both of military interference and elite rivalries over state control discernable in the agonizingly slow and unsettled transformation of West Africa's political landscape. The study is also a critical exposé of how the post-1990s crop of political leaders have (mis)handled the second chance afforded them to grant Africans long-denied basic human, political, and civic rights, which were, after all, the main promise of political independence a generation ago. The book proceeds on the analytical proposition that, against the background of shared praetorianism and military politicization, there is a discernable connection between the singular itineraries West African regimes have followed in their unsteady efforts to overcome a damning history of authoritarianism. The five chapters richly illustrate these intricate connections and their implications for the fortunes of the democratization movement in the sub-region as a whole. A sobering conclusion is that it will take time and much disillusionment for entrenched militarism and anti-democratic practices to disappear from West Africa. "This is a thorough study of democratization and authoritarianism in West Africa. Summing Up: Recommended." -- CHOICE Magazine, 2005