When the State Fails : Studies on Intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War

Abstract

Compared with Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, the recent western intervention in Sierra Leone has been largely forgotten. This book provides a comprehensive and critical overview of what happened, and examines its ongoing consequences. Sierra Leone’s civil war began in 1991 and was officially declared over in 2002 after UK, UN and regional African military intervention. The contributors provide an informed analysis of the impact of the intervention on democracy, development and society in Sierra Leone. They take a particularly critical view of the imposition of neoliberalism after the conflict.

<p>Contents: PART I. Introduction: Background to War and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding -- 1. Multilateral Intervention in Sierra Leone’s Civil War: Some Structural Explanations / Tunde Zack-Williams -- 2. International Actors and Democracy Promotion in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone: Time for Stock-Taking / Marcella Macauley -- 3. International Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone: The Case of the United Kingdom / Michael Kargbo -- 4. Intervention and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone: A Critical Perspective / Jimmy D. Kandeh -- PART II. -- 5. The Role of External Actors in Sierra Leone’s Security Reform / Osman Gbla -- 6. Gender, Conflict and Peacebuilding in Africa: The Sierra Leone Experience / Sylvia Macauley -- 7. Youth Marginalization in Post-War Sierra Leone: Mapping out the Challenges for Peace / J. D. Ekundayo-Thompson -- 8. Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone: The Role of the Sierra Leone Diasporas / Zubairu Wai</p>