Article Number - B9FE42563809
Full Length Research Paper
An examination of the Sierra Leone war
Clotilde Asangna
- Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA.
- Search for this author on:
- Google Scholar
- Abstract
- References
- How to cite this article
This study is a historical analysis of Sierra Leone’s state structure in the 20th and 21st centuries. This period was marked by defective leadership and insatiable greed that created political failure at both the national and regional level. The absence of a long-term democratic leader, coupled with the lack of institutions aimed at guiding effective resource distribution enabled the gradual collapse of the state in the wake of independence. Appropriation of wealth and corruption slowly established a cleavage between the rich elite who were in the minority, and the impoverished, uneducated and malnourished majority who eventually took up arms against the state. The latter group bonded under the Revolutionary United Front/Sierra Leone (RUF/SL) banner, and engaged the state in a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002.
Key words: Civil war, state weakness, regional crisis.
|
Abdullah K (1996). Sierra Leone: The Agony of a Nation. United Kingdom: Andromeda Publications. |
|
|
Abdullah I (1998). Bush Path to Destruction: The Origin and Character of the Revolutionary United Front/ Sierra Leone. J. Modern Afr. Stud. 36:2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
|
|
Awoonor-Gordon O (1997). A Nation Held Hostage. In For Di People. Sierra Leone: Freetown Paper. |
|
|
Blanton R, David TM, Brian A (2001). Colonial Style and Post-Colonial Ethnic Conflict in Africa. Sage Publications Ltd. |
|
|
Bundu A (2001). Democracy by Force?: A Study of International Military Intervention in the Civil War in Sierra Leone from 1991-2000. USA: Universal Publishers. |
|
|
Cartwright J (1978). Political Leadership in Sierra Leone. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. |
|
|
Coker M (2001). Illegal small arms pose global threat. |
|
|
Cole E (2014). Theorizing the Disfigured Body: Mutilation, Amputation, and Disability in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone. Africa Research & Publications. |
|
|
Conteh SJ (2001). The Diamonds. New York: Lekon Dimensions Publishing. |
|
|
Doyle MW, Nicholas S (2000). International Peacebuilding: A Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 94:779-801. |
|
|
Fayemi K (2004). Governing Insecurity in Post-Conflict States: The Case of Sierra Leone and Liberia." in Reform and Reconstruction of the Security Sector. Ed. Alan Bryden and Heiner Hanggi. (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers). pp. 179-206. |
|
|
Fearon JD (2004). Why Do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer than Others? J. Peace Res. 41(3):275-302. |
|
|
Fyle M (1981). The History of Sierra Leone: A Concise Introduction. Nigeria: Evans Brothers Limited. |
|
|
Fyle M (2006). Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press Inc. |
|
|
Gberie L (2005). A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF and the Destruction of Serra Leone. Indiana: Indiana University Press. |
|
|
Gurr R (2011). Why Men Rebel Redux: How Valid are its Arguments 40 years On? |
|
|
Harris D (2014). Sierra Leone: A Political History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
|
|
Hobbes T (1951). Leviathan, Or The Matter, Forme, & Power Of A Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall And Civill. London, printed for Andrew Crooke, at the Green Dragon in St. Pauls Church-yard. |
|
|
Lawson A (2006). The Call for Tough Arms Controls: Voices from Sierra Leone. Control Arms. |
|
|
Nugent P (2004). Africa Since Independence: A Comparative History. Palgrave Macmilliam. |
|
|
Meredith M (2005). The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence. Free Press. |
|
|
Migdal J (1988). Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. |
|
|
Orogun P (2004). Blood Diamonds and Africa's Armed Conflicts in the Post-Cold War Era, in World Affairs. 166(3):151-161. Sage Publications. |
|
|
Pham PJ (2006). The Sierra Leonean Tragedy: Historical and Global Dimensions. New York: Nova Science Publishers. |
|
|
Report of the Panel of Experts (2000). Appointed Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1306, Paragraph 19 In Relation to Sierra Leone. |
|
|
Richards P (1996). Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone. Heinemann Publishers. |
|
|
Rodney W (1972). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London: Bogle L'Ouverture Publications. |
|
|
RUF/SL (1995). Footpaths to Democracy Toward A New Sierra Leone |
|
|
Schneider F, Raul C (2011). The (Hidden) Financial Flows of Terrorist and Transnational Crime Organizations: A Literature Review and some Preliminary Empirical Results. EUSECON Working Paper 52. |
|
|
Shillington K (1989). History of Africa. Revised Edition. New York: St. Martin's Press. |
|
|
Skocpol T (1979). States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
|
|
The Office for Disarmament Affairs. The United Nations. |
|
|
Tilly C (1978). From Mobilization to Revolution. United States: Addison Wesley. |
|
|
Vandewalle D (1998). Libya Since Independence. United Kingdom: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. |
|
|
Williamson J (2006). The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Child Soldiers: Social and Psychological Transformation in Sierra Leone" Intervention. 4(3):185-205. |
|
| APA | Asangna, C. (2017). An examination of the Sierra Leone war. African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 11(5), 103-111. |
| Chicago | Clotilde Asangna . "An examination of the Sierra Leone war." African Journal of Political Science and International Relations 11, no. 5 (2017): 103-111. |
| MLA | Clotilde Asangna . "An examination of the Sierra Leone war." African Journal of Political Science and International Relations 11.5 (2017): 103-111. |
| DOI | 10.5897/AJPSIR2017.0994 |
| URL | http://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPSIR/article-abstract/B9FE42563809 |
© 2002-2017 
| Terms of Use