Sierra Leone Civil War Summary

reality of the most brutal 20th century civil war in Sierra Leone. Mariatu tells a very

A brief historical account of Sierra Leone may provide only a glimmer as to why the Sierra

“Liberian Civil war fought in 1989-1996, is among the most deadly and destructive war in the history that lasted for more than 7 years and killed almost 3 hundred thousand people. This war was the worst ever in the history of Africa because it caused the infrastructural and property damage in the country. The war also displaced more than 1 million people in refugee camps in neighboring countries. This war led to a complete breakdown of law and order in the country. There was not any direct cause that led to this war but several reasons contributed in the creation of this destructive event. Hunger for power, greed and opportunities to control and to get more out of Liberia’s natural resources were the main reasons behind this conflict. As D. Elwood Dunn quoted “We begin with the assumption that the conflict arose from the tugs and pulls of different identities the differential distribution of

These events that led to the civil war in Sierra Leone destroyed its economic, political, and social system. The economics have been driven down since independence as seen before, from smugglers, to crooked political leaders destroying the economic system into pieces. The collapse of the economic system can trace back to many things. The political system has played a big part in it. The corrupt leaders as seen before in history like Stevens, and Mohob. In the book “Along Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah he experiences the messed up politics. He had first heard about it in the news about neighboring wars. Those wars were in Liberia. He had first hand experience, as he had fought for the government side which is no better than the rebels known as RUF. Ishmael roughly experiences this as he says

The change in Sierra Leone culture is one of the first consequences of war seen in the story. Throughout the civil war the rebels (RUF) recruited or forced many children to become soldiers. In order to get these children they would raid villages and then draft the strongest ones. They would then tell the children that they would not need their families

Before reading “A Long Way Gone,” I was not at all familiar with the civil wars occurring in Sierra Leone. I didn’t know anything about Sierra Leone’s political dynamics either, however I could infer much about what might be going on there if asked. At least that is what I thought. That is until I read part of Ishmael’s memoir. I figured, previously to reading the memoir, that civil wars began as a result of some generally good reason, and were continued for a generally good reason. The civil wars in Sierra Leone, as I read, were quite the opposite, rather blind fight for power, as narrated by Beah, “A lot of things were done with no reason or explanation.” It is also implied that each side in the war believed that they themselves were doing

A Long Way Gone is a true story about the life of Ishmael beah, a young boy who became a child soldier in Sierra Leone. When Ishmael was away performing with his friends, his village was tragically attacked by rebels. Left with nothing the group travels between villages for months with the rebels right behind them the whole time. To scared to fight.

In 1991, the Sierra Leone Civil War started. Rebels invaded Beah's hometown, Mogbwemo, located in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, and he was forced to flee. Separated from his family, he spent months wandering south with a group of other boys. At the age of 12, he was forced to become a child soldier. According to Beah's account, he fought for almost three years before being rescued by UNICEF.[1] Beah fought for the government army against the rebels. In 1997, he fled Freetown by the help of the UNICEF due to the increasing violence and found his way to New York City, where he lived with Laura Simms, his foster mother. In New York City, Beah attended the United Nations International School. After high school, he enrolled at Oberlin College and graduated in 2004 with a degree in Political Science.[1]

“The most widely accepted relationship between economic factors and civil war is that high-income nations are less likely to experience civil wars than low-income nations.” (Dixon 714). The disagreements over how to spend money and tax imported goods, and how territories should be distributed, cause this one nation to fight against each other.

Addressing the most important factor – lack of literacy – it can be noted that the education expenditures in Sierra Leone is 2.9% of GDP (2012)1. An increase in investment in the education system, and enforcement is the most effective way to increase literacy rates. In an interview with the International Monetary Fund, the question is posed: “Oil wealth is not always a blessing. In actual fact, countries like Nigeria have struggled in managing the resource effectively. How can the CEMAC countries avoid the pitfalls that other countries have fallen into? ” The simple answer given by Sharmini Coorey, Director of the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development replies; “Another important thing is investing in people. In the book, we focus on how to achieve inclusive growth and one of the most obvious and relatively easy ways of making inclusive growth is to spend your oil money on better health and education.17” In investing in the people, a country is investing in their future. Censorship isn’t generally accepted in Sierra Leone and so with the creation of privately owned newspaper, radio, and television companies, it allows the private owners to give people the unbiased, truthful and accurate news16. In the research done, my conclusion is that Sierra Leone has a good basis for media, however it is the literacy and monetary issues which hold

Sierra Leone gained its independence in 1961 but it’s not as independent as it seems. Known as the Blood Diamond of Africa is said to be one of the most dangerous places in the world. Of its top exports, diamonds are number one. Who knew one diamond could cause so much chaos especially in the land of peace and harmony, causing its own people to kill one another. Blood diamonds are infamous and play a dangerous role in the lives of many people.

(U) There are three (3) main threats in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The first potential threat is political demonstrations. With the upcoming presidential elections in 2017, and the current president (Ernest Bai Koroma) winning by a small margin in 2012, you should expect both scheduled and spontaneous political demonstrations to occur throughout Sierra Leone.4 These demonstrations will be very prevalent in the city of Freetown. In the past they have started peaceful, but escalated to violence very quickly.2 The second potential threat is the local gangs. These gangs consist mainly of either students, or young unemployed males, or both. Theses gangs concentrate on small crimes, i.e. pickpocketing. They have been known to be violent in

South Sudan’s economic development, as measured by the country’s ability to promote economic growth, contrasts drastically with that of its political realm. By and far, South Sudan’s economic growth has seen rapid development, led by the extraction and commercialization of it’s oil reserves. Of key importance, one must note that the intricacies of South Sudan’s ability to extract oil is highly associated with the easing of military tensions. And indeed, with the recent “lifting of threats by the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, to shut down the South Sudan oil flow…in Juba,” (“SOUTH SUDAN: Oil Production Up,” 2013) GDP has increased, indicating a (theoretical) increase in overall standard of living ("Top Growers," 2013.) Although the adoption of foreign technologies and investments has widely been acted as a means of realizing the full gains of oil extraction, the SPLM have proceeded with extreme caution in developing South Sudan’s oil industry (Bream, Boxell & England, 2005). The underlying logical remains that the SPLM recognized corporate exploitation and corruption faced by other developing nations that signed contracts over their natural resources, often leading to increased domestic poverty and foreign ownership of domestic economies. In this sense, the South Sudanese economy should see healthy economic growth, as it controls its own markets and has agency over its own economic growth. However, South Sudan’s economic growth has seen considerable limitations as a

Building a nation… Slavery, Independence, Constitution, Military coups to Presidential elections! Senior Enlisted leaders, it is important to know that the freedoms we all prefer comes with a cost of sacrifice, bloodshed, and for some, nation before self for democracy. This essay will discuss the background, government, strategic importance, and future direction of Sierra Leone.

4 Analyze the effects of the cold war on apartheid in South Africa or on another specified issue and region or country.