Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1993

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Political Science

Major Professor

Vernon R. Iredell

Committee Members

Robert Peterson, Robert Gorman, Gill Evans, Rosalind Hackett

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the main political developments that led to the Liberian crisis and civil war and, more importantly, the intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This dissertation defined the phenomenon and types of intervention, problems associated with even humanitarian intervention and its future application. After a theoretical discussion of related concepts, the study dealt with the historical background of Liberia. The consequences of the civil war for Liberia in particular and the West African subregion in general were dealt with next. These consequences resulted in the ECOWAS intervention in the crisis which was the main focus of the study. The ECOWAS justified its intervention on four main grounds, namely, humanitarian considerations, peace and security of the region, the provisions of the non-aggression protocol and the protocol of mutual assistance on defense and on the grounds that it was responding to the invitation of the late President Doe's "de jure" government. Two major research methods-namely, field investigation or interviews and library research-were adopted. Data were collected during the 14th ECOWAS Summit held at Abuja, Nigeria, through the interaction with several delegates to the Summit. Several working meetings were later held with the upper and middle-level officials at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Lagos, Nigeria. Open-ended or partially open-ended structured interviews were used to interview State Secretaries and the political attaches in some embassies in the region. Documentary sources at the ECOWAS Secretariat, universities and national libraries were researched. Other most valuable sources of this study apart from the official ECOWAS documents and reports, and the like, included scholarly books, dissertations, periodicals, journals and reliable news magazines and newspapers. It was found that the civil war in Liberia was not "a purely domestic" conflict since some "soldiers of fortune" fought for a warring faction as did some soldiers loaned by a country in the region. The incursion was launched from Cote D'lvoire. The civil war resulted in wanton massacre of people, massive destruction of property, use of underage boys in combat, holding of hostages, creating of refugee problems and the spilling-over of hostilities into neighboring Sierra Leone. The study concluded that generally Africans prefer interventions by international organization to unilateral ones. However, it was suggested that probably no one pattern of intervention is always best. At times, as in the Liberian case, an individual nation (the United States), a regional organization (ECOWAS) and the United Nations will all have a role to play. It was further concluded that no matter which organization plays a major role in intervening, two means of making action more effective should be considered. First, trouble spots should be identified early, and action should be taken before the problem becomes massive. And second, intervening organizations should consider establishing permanent forces to facilitate rapid response.

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