Download or read book Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea Bissau written by Africa Strategic Africa Strategic Studies Institute (U.S.) and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2013-06-30 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Spatializing Practices of Regional Organizations during Conflict Intervention written by Jens Herpolsheimer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-02-28 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism written by Erica Chenoweth and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 813 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Economic Inclusion in Post Independence Africa written by David Mhlanga and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-04 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Counternetwork written by Angel Rabasa and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2017-01-04 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book African security in the twenty first century written by Stephen Emerson and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-24 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Greater Maghreb written by David Garcia Cantalapiedra and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-09-18 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Reconceptualizing Security in the Americas in the Twenty First Century written by Bruce M. Bagley and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-02-19 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book illustrates the plethora of security concerns of the Americas in the 21st century. It presents the work of a number of prolific scholars and analysts in the continents of America. The book provides one of the only expansive applications of theory to a wide geographical area. It offers new perspectives and urges readers to take theory seriously through use. Within the Americas, we find a number of important issues that compose of this geographic security complex. Most important are the threats that supersede borders: drug trafficking, migration, health, and environment. These threats change our understanding of security and the state and region process of neutralizing or correcting these threats. This volume evaluates these threats within contemporary security discourse.

Download or read book The Illicit and Illegal in Regional and Urban Governance and Development written by Francesco Chiodelli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-27 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discussions of the illicit and the illegal have tended to be somewhat restricted in their disciplinary range, to date, and have been largely confined to the literatures of anthropology, criminology, policing and, to an extent, political science. However, these debates have impinged little on cognate literatures, not least those of urban and regional studies which remain almost entirely undisturbed by such issues. This volume aims to open up debates across a range of cognate disciplines. The Illicit and Illegal in Regional and Urban Governance and Development is a multidisciplinary volume that aims to open up these debates, extending them empirically and questioning the dominant discussions of governance and development that have been rooted largely or entirely in the realm of licit and legal actors. The book investigates these issues with reference to a variety of different geographical contexts, including, but not limited to, places traditionally considered to be associated with illegal activities and extensive illicit markets, such as some regions in the so-called Global South. The chapters consider the ways in which these questions deeply affect the daily lives of several cities and regions in some advanced countries. Their comparative perspectives will demonstrate that the illicit and the illegal are an underappreciated structural aspect of current urban and regional governance and development across the globe. The book is an edited collection of research-informed essays, which will primarily be of interest to those taking advanced undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses in human geography, urban and regional planning and a range of social science disciplines that have an interest in urban and regional issues and issues related to crime and corruption.

Download or read book Guinea Bissau written by International Monetary Fund. African Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper explains the cashew economy and the unfolding of the 2017 campaign. At least half of all households are thought to be engaged in production, commercialization, or exportation of cashew nuts. The activity has at least four macroeconomic impacts: one, it injects liquidity to producers; two, owing to producers’ high propensity to consume, it impacts the price level; third, it is the main provider of foreign exchange via exports; and fourth, it is an important source of fiscal revenues. Despite streamlining of marketing arrangements over the years, cashew production is still subject to significant government intervention. Vested interests have traditionally permeated public policies, with nontransparent issuance of licenses and permits used in some instances to block competition. Cashew production started to expand during the 1980s and yearly output has over the years increased to currently about 200,000 tons. Native of north Brazil, cashew trees were introduced by the Portuguese during the colonial period but output remained negligible through to the country’s independence in 1973.

Download or read book Political Change and Constitutionalism in Africa written by Okon Akiba and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political Change and Constitutionalism in Africa examines the complexities of government and obstacles facing constitutional democracy in transitional African societies. The chapters provide a critical, conceptual framework to probe, interpret and understand the dimensions of current and impending challenges to constitutional government in the African continent. The contributors explain why deep inequalities and harsh repression persist in most transitional African countries, despite constitutionally guaranteed rights and the ongoing, practical efforts to expand participation through political liberalization. The book demonstrates the importance of sustaining in public confidence in democracy and provides provocative ideas about how to deal with new, prodigious configurations of power that are stubbornly resisting real institutional change. Political Change and Constitutionalism in Africa will be of interest to scholars of African politics and constitutional politics.

Download or read book Corruption Institutions and Fragile States written by Hanna Samir Kassab and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the relationship between state fragility and corruption. It analyzes a variety of regions throughout the world, including Latin America, Central Asia and the Middle East, Africa, Central America and Mexico, South America, and Russia. States that are plagued by high levels of state fragility and corruption facilitate illicit activities and other criminal enterprises.

Download or read book The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa written by Alexandre Marc and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2015-06-19 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since independence, the West African sub-region has been an arena for a number of large-scale conflicts and civil wars, as well as simmering and low-intensity uprisings. Contrary to perceptions, West Africa in its post-independence history has experienced fewer conflict events and fatalities from conflict than the other sub-regions on the continent. The turn of the millennium has witnessed the recession of large-scale and conventional conflict, and it has ushered in new and emerging threats. The specters of religious extremism, maritime piracy, and narcotics trafficking threaten to undermine some of the progress achieved in recent years. The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa critically examines the key drivers of conflict and violence, and the way in which they impact the countries of the sub-region. In addition to emerging threats, these drivers include the challenges of youth inclusion, migration, sub-regional imbalances, and extractives, as well as challenges related to the fragility of political institutions and managing the competition for power, reform of the security sector, and weakness of institutions related to land management. The book explores how the sub-region, under the auspices of the regional organization ECOWAS, has become a pioneer on the continent in terms of addressing regional challenges. The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa also identifies key lessons in the dynamics of resilience in the face of political violence and civil war drawn from CÃ ́te d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, that can be useful for countries around the world in similar situations. It incorporates knowledge and findings from leading experts and provides insights from academics and development practitioners. Finally, the book identifies possible policy and programmatic responses and directions for policy dialogue at the national and international levels.

Download or read book The Handbook of African Intelligence Cultures written by Ryan Shaffer and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-02-06 with total page 833 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together a group of international scholars, The Handbook of African Intelligence Cultures provides the first review of intelligence cultures in every African country. It explores how intelligence cultures are influenced by a range of factors, including past and present societal, governmental and international dynamics. In doing so, the book examines the state’s role, civil society and foreign relations in shaping African countries’ intelligence norms, activities and oversight. It also explores the role intelligence services and cultures play in government and civil society.

Download or read book Organized Crime and Illicit Trade written by Virginia Comolli and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-03-24 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Examining Crime and Justice around the World written by Janet P. Stamatel and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2020-11-04 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thorough and timely investigation of both well-established and emerging crime and punishment issues, this book provides readers with compelling examples of how different countries around the world confront these problems. This book offers a detailed look at 10 "hot topics" in crime and punishment that are shared by many countries. Some of these topics are well-established within the field of criminology, such as patterns of criminal behavior, juvenile delinquency, drug trafficking, policing, and punishment; others are emerging topics that have not been well studied across a variety of countries, such as violence against women, hate crimes, and gun control. Within each topic, the book explores how eight countries experience the issue, highlighting similarities across different places as well as unique treatments of the problem. The chapter on punishment addresses the widespread use of incarceration as criminal punishment but also considers different philosophies with respect to the purpose of incarceration and whether or not this strategy is effective in the face of large-scale criminal events, such as mass atrocities. The country narratives provide historical context for understanding the particular crime or punishment issue, current trends, and relevant statistical data for describing the extent of the issue and changes over time, in addition to contemporary examples of the issue.

Download or read book Illicit Financial Flows The Economy of Illicit Trade in West Africa written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is a first step towards building a qualitative understanding of the way illicit or criminal activities interact with the economy, security and development of West African States.