Monday, 24 October 2016
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Economic Causes of Civil Conflict and their Implications for Policy
1
Introduction
This chapter presents an economic perspective on the causes of civil war, based on
empirical patterns globally over the period 1965-99. During this period, the risk of civil
war has been systematically related to a few economic conditions, such as dependence
upon primary commodity exports and low national income. Conversely, and
astonishingly, objective measures of social grievance, such as inequality, a lack of
democracy, and ethnic and religious divisions, have had little systematic effect on risk. I
argue that this is because civil wars occur where rebel organizations are financially
viable. The Michigan Militia, which briefly threatened to menace peace in the USA, was
unable to grow beyond a handful of part-time volunteers, whereas the FARC in Colombia
has grown to employ around 12,000 people. The factors which account for this difference
between failure and success are to be found not in the `causesà which these two rebel
organizations claimed to espouse, but in their radically different opportunities to raise
revenue. The FARC earns around $700m per year from drugs and kidnapping, whereas
the Michigan Militia was probably broke. The central importance of the financial
viability of the rebel organization as the cause of civil war, is why civil wars are so unlike
international wars. Governments can always finance an army out of taxation and so
governments can always fight each other. The circumstances in which a rebel
organization can finance an army are quite unusual. This is why my analysis is entirely
confined to civil war: what I have to say has little or no bearing on inter-government war.
Because the results are so counter-intuitive, I start by arguing why social scientists should
be distrustful of the loud public discourse on conflict. I then turn to the evidence,
describing each of the risk factors in civil war. I then try to explain the observed pattern,
focusing on the circumstances in which rebel organizations are viable. Finally, I turn to
the policy implications. I argue that because the economic dimensions of civil war have
been largely neglected, both governments and the international community have missed
substantial opportunities for promoting peace
Gender: Eritrean People’s Liberation Front and Eritrean government initiatives
Focus is given here to a description of activities concerning women’s position and the gender initiatives undertaken between the mid 1970s and 1991, firstly by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (the EPLF) during its conflict with Ethiopia and secondly by the post-liberation governments (a transitional government between liberation in May 1991 and 1993, and the current government thereafter, once independence had been ratified.This document addresses events to early 2001).1In many cases there is little or no documentation available regarding people’s responses to such actions during the liberation struggle; such information as exists is set out here, and consideration given to emerging issues of gender equality in the light of previous and current action by those in power. The concluding comments point out certain topics remaining to be addressed by both government and the general population (with its many interest groups and varying
perceptions) if post liberation policy is successfully to be translated into practice.
Wednesday, 12 October 2016
The article was
written at the behest of the Department of Adult and Media Education,
Ministry of Education, Government of Eritrea, to commemorate the
celebrations of International Literacy Day on Sept 8, 2004. The article
was published in Eritrea Profile - a State run news paper four days
before on Sunday. It portrays the struggle of Eritrean leadership since
its pre-independence era to the present to combat with the illiteracy
problems dogging the Eritrean ethnic groups. READMORE
The State of Eritrea’s Wome n’s Association Revisited: An Analysis of its Past and Pres ent Roles, and Future Challenges Tirhas T. Habtu
This
research analyzes the role of the National Union
of
Eritrean Women (NUEW) in pre and post-independent Eritrea by
focusing
on national and international discourses on Eritrean women (ex)fighters. The
NUEW was established in 1979 under the auspices of the Eritrean People’s
Liberation Front (EPLF), then fighting
for
Eritrea’s liberation. Until Eritrea’s de facto independence in 1991 it was regarded
as one of the most effective women’s movements in the African continent. In the
aftermath of Eritrea’s independence, however, national and international
narratives on the emancipation of Eritrean women—particularly
women
(ex)fighters and their post-independence status—took divergent paths. This
research, then, examines the contentious contemporary discourses on Eritrean
women by revisiting the formation, strategies and objectives of the NUEW.
Moreover, it scrutinizes the methodology and the data used to bring about
the
current image of Eritrean women in the international arena. READMORE
If you don’t do it our way, forget it! Contextualising Education in E ritrea: Reflections on a Research Experien ce
This paper is part of an unfinished journey into African education and reflects on
experienced cultural dilemm as involved in doing qualitative
research on the context of educational thinking in Eritrea. The thirty-year Independence War (1961-1991) – the two last decades under the leadership of Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), Eritrea’s short post-colonial history, the unexpected recent war with Ethiopia(1998-2000), and the fact thatcentral EPLF leaders are still in political power, are reasons why Eritrea attracts researchers from many continent read more
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