The Burden of Collective Goodwill: The International Involvement in the Liberian Civil War

by Abiodun Alao

Overview

The book is the first to discuss in detail the extensive external involvement in the Liberian civil war, a war that claimed up to 200,000 lives, created a massive refuge crisis and brought West Africa to the tribunal of international attention. The book is conceived against the background that the international response to the conflict has features that are unprecedented in the management of civil conflicts in the post-cold war era. For example, the regional peacekeeping mission was the first after the end of the cold war, while the dispatch of UN Observer mission was the first ever joint peacekeeping mission between the UN and a regional organisation. The extensive involvement of international organisations in the conflict has not been witnessed in the region since the Biafran war of 1967-1970.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138267305
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/30/2017
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents: State failure, international intervention and the collapse of the Liberian state; The politics and economics of the Liberian civil war; Regional involvement in the Liberian conflict: ECOWAS and ECOMOG in Liberia; The United Nations and the Liberian conflict; Allies as rivals: ECOMOG and UNOMIL in Liberia; Non-governmental organizations and the Liberian emergency; Whither the Godfather? the United States and the Liberian civil war; The international community and post-conflict Liberia.

Editorial Reviews

’...a fascinating study which illuminates our understanding of the failed state and the role of external actors in coping with its implications. The author’s pioneering study is a model of scholarly endeavour providing a host of valuable insights, based on extensive fieldwork in difficult circumstances.’ Professor J.E. Spence, Royal Institute of International Affairs, UK ’...this new study helps to fill gap in our understanding of the international involvement in the Liberian conflict, the forces that shaped it and the degree of success in the outcome. The author argues that the extensive international response (mainly West African ECOMG forces) offers important lessons for the management of complex emergencies in Africa.’ African Book Centre ’...this unprecedented case...is therefore particularly welcome and represents the first attempt to assess the international involvement in the entire civil war. he deals competently and painstakingly with the tortuous peacemaking process...’ International Affairs

From the Publisher

The 1989 collapse of central authority in Liberia and the consequent civil war led to the intervention of the regional economic organization (ECOWAS) and the UN in what was to be the first joint peacekeeping mission by the UN and a regional entity anywhere in the world. Constraining his analysis of the Liberian conflict to the international involvement, the forces that shaped it, and the degree of success of the efforts, the author argues that the Liberian war offers important lessons for the management of complex emergencies in Africa. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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