The Instability Of Liberia

Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest

Liberia has continued to struggle with its internal battles stemming from corrupt and unjust governments and leaders. As stated in our readings, ( CW/Lesson 13 West Africa), large scale fighting has erupted as recent as the year 2000 over the fight for leadersip in this country. Groups such as LURD rebels have takn over many areas north and west of Liberia, MODEL rebels have cut off income from the south and east which is rich in timber, and the presidents own armed forces have treid to gain and keep control around the capital, Monrovia. The two rebel groups, LURD, and MODEL, now have two-thirds of the country under their control and own the majority of military power as well. This violence has also taken advantage of human rights by enlisting boys as young as ten years old to fight for these rebel groups.

Firestone, a tire production company, who owns a base in Liberia got into a predicament on morality issues. The controversy was over whether or not it was right to continue deploying their workers to Liberia after war crimes were committed there. During the time Firestone started up its operation of rubber collecting in Liberia, an ongoing civil war between a rebel force led by Charles Taylor and the Liberian president at the time, Samuel Doe, interfered with their operation. At first the company had withdrawn from the crossfire of the war, but soon realized they needed to return due to Firestone’s financial decline. When returning, the tire company had to work under Taylor’s stringent rules that resulted in issues such as the safety of their workers at the Firestone plantation and the exploitation of workers. The problem with this was that Firestone’s primary intention was to return and make a profit, not taking the lives and opinions of their workers into consideration. Firestone 's action was immoral leading to accepting the abuse and exploitation of their workers on the necessity of making a profit.

The ruthless nature of barbarism has successfully infiltrated lands, homes, and lives through its own enemy - civilization. Dalrymple has visited these places or learned about their troubled establishment. Fruitful areas have been transformed into chaotic and unrecognizable disasters. In Monrovia, public facilities such as hospitals, post offices, and homes were destroyed by a relentless force. Indeed, this was purposeful to persuade and convince the people they had no resources available to progress their resistance and hide from retribution. It was a common and unforgettable tactic by

Today Liberia is a recovering and thriving nation in Western-Africa. It was created by a movement from the United States in the 1840’s that allowed freed slaves the opportunity to move to Africa to attempt to make a life in a more accepting environment. Liberia has a very eventful history to include events such as a civil war, coups, being the first independent nation in Africa, and also elected one of the first female presidents in Africa. The topics that will be covered will be a culture outline of Liberia, a breakdown of Liberia’s diverse population, a description of their government and economy, and an overview of their military.

Mandela’s vision was no different in Liberia’s civil war where the unity of Christian and Muslim women used prayers to appease the violence in their country. As the LURD forces were near the homes of Monrovia, the families gathered at their churches. They felt safe there and began praying for peace. The Christian and Muslim women were telling each other tales of atrocities. The sisterhood of these women, ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and daughters, both Muslim and Christian had a goal, to bring peace to their shattered Liberia. These women learned that one way to bring the peace to all Liberians they needed to raise their voice against war and restore peace. The Christian-Muslim cooperation helped to create a network that throughout

The civil war lasted 14 years, ending in 2003. This was the main cause of Liberia’s under- developed energy sources. The civil war left devastating effects on the city of Monrovia. Important power stations were targeted by the other side, causing people to lose power for the entire duration of the civil war and afterwards as it is extremely costly to repair these power stations. After the war, looters took away anything that was left undestroyed by the war. Ultimately they were left with absolutely. Electricity was cut off to people across the city, damaging lives and work areas. People have had to live without proper access to electricity,

Big man is powerful tribes in certain countries in Africa. The group is lead by a person with great skills and wisdom. Liberia is located in a violent part of West Africa. The way the political cultures in Liberia are set up are by Big Men and Networks. They simply believed in more that there should be a leader and a controller rather than to be concerned about the Territory. Big Men and Networks is a basic meaning that people don’t change for organizations but the change actual happens when there is a leader involved in social settings.

Following the end of Liberia’s civil war (which was borne out of the relationship of the US and Samuel Doe, the Liberian people elected a government in a free and fair democratic elections), the country was in need of the US and other world powers to help stimulate the country’s economy and help rebuild its damaged infrastructure. However, the US basically walked away from Liberia at the opportune moment leaving Liberia to its own devices and also at the mercy of the Supreme Being to perform some sort of miracle to rebuild this nation that was once very important to the US during the Cold War.

In the 1970’s when educated indigenous Liberians protested the raise in rice prices, the Tolbert government violently put down the protest by killing 40 students and wounding 400 (59). This set the stage for a group called The People’s Revolutionary Council led by Samuel Doe to lead a coup on April 12, 1980 that took over the government killing President Tolbert and many others (61). Doe became a dictator who put his ethnic Krahn tribe in charge of everything and took all the natural resources for his own profit (62). Any ethnic groups not of the Krahn tribe were persecuted and many were killed (63). Due to the atrocities suffered under Doe’s dictatorship, different ethnic groups formed rebel organizations to try to defeat Doe. Charles Taylor led an invasion into Liberia with the backing of the Gola and Mano tribes (Global Security, 2). The Gio tribe under Prince Johnson formed its own rebel force (2). This began a bloody three-way war. Although the reason given for the civil war was to provide different ethnic groups with the right to participate in the government, one of the factors that drove the warlords was the desire to exploit Liberia’s natural

What has been a great factor in my ability to expand myself educationally are the implications of my country’s civil war. I am from Angola; a country that was struck with war almost immediately after it gained its independence from Portugal. The war ended back in 2002 however its effects can still be felt by its entire people. These effects come in a myriad of ways; from those who lost families or their livelihood, to those who had the patriotism shaken. To me the war has made the rebuilding of my country’s glory a responsibility which I wish to uphold. Now due to the war, many families were displaced and forced to leave their homes. As a child, parents sent me to live in South Africa in the hopes I could have life away from the war; however

As the result of the 14-year civil war, the HIV and EBOLA pandemic, the orphan and OVC population steadily rose. The orphans and OVC in the orphanages, on the streets, and in the homes of the extended family member(s) (caregivers) experienced many socioeconomic and psychological problems. While the children strive to cope with ill-equipped schools, shortage of teaching materials, new or untrained teachers, poor health amenities, human rights abuses reigned throughout these institutions and the country. For instance, the Traditional Marriage Act of 1998 which allows marriage at the age of 16 was being violated according to a UNICEF 2015 study

The Liberian genocide was caused by Samuel Doe he led a coup d'etat in April 12,1980. He led the first civil war and group of soldiers to kill president William Tolbert. The assassination went unnoticed which is astonishing, given the fact that that there was considerable political tension. It was also well staffed by the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia. It was bloody takeover by Doe and soldiers who back kim up. By the end of the month everyone in cabinet but one was killed. After, coming into power he made himself chairman and head of state he revoke the acting constitution, and wrote the 25 member constitutional commission under the leadership of Dr Amos Sawyer. Samuel Doe officially came into power in 1986 as first president of the second Republic

Why would such a highly developed government that has been politically stable for almost forty years give authority to those who seek primarily personal gain rather than an overall benefit for their country, leading to the country’s first military coup d’etat? This question, along with many others, cannot simply be answered with a brief explanation. It takes extensive research. Still one may never know the true reasons to why there was such chaos. However, with some quality intuition, a few hypotheses can be made. First, the exploration of whom and what gave prior-coup Côte d'Ivoire their overall prosperity will be discussed. Then, the question of why this crisis occurred will be discussed. Finally, this paper will elaborate what events give basis to certain theories behind why the coup occurred.

To better understand these issues, it’s important to contextualize this within the body of other scholarly works on the subject. Below are five summaries of articles regarding the subject of the Liberian governance. These articles examine the causes of the strife in Liberia and the effects on the countries’ citizens.