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When a guerrilla movement opposing Portuguese rule in Guinea-Bissau issued a unilateral declaration of independence in September 1973, it created a dilemma for Portugal's allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although Britain, like other NATO countries, wanted to keep Portugal within the alliance, British officials were exasperated by the Portuguese regime's refusal to let go of its colonies in Africa. When the United Nations (UN) took up the issue of Guinea-Bissau, Britain came under intense pressure from Portugal to proffer its support. Declassified documents from the British National Archives underscore the difficulties that ensued. British officials were mindful of their relationship with Portugal, but they were unsure of the intentions of the other Western permanent members of the UN Security Council and were worried about damaging Britain's broader position in Africa. This dilemma was not resolved until April 1974 when a military coup in Lisbon led to the Portuguese withdrawal from Guinea-Bissau.

When a guerrilla movement opposing Portuguese rule in Guinea-Bissau issued a unilateral declaration of independence in September 1973, it created a dilemma for Portugal's allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although Britain, like other NATO countries, wanted to keep Portugal within the alliance, British officials were exasperated by the Portuguese regime's refusal to let go of its colonies in Africa. When the United Nations (UN) took up the issue of Guinea-Bissau, Britain came under intense pressure from Portugal to proffer its support. Declassified documents from the British National Archives underscore the difficulties that ensued. British officials were mindful of their relationship with Portugal, but they were unsure of the intentions of the other Western permanent members of the UN Security Council & were worried about damaging Britain's broader position in Africa. This dilemma was not resolved until April 1974 when a military coup in Lisbon led to the Portuguese withdrawal from Guinea-Bissau. Tables. Adapted from the source document.

Thirty years ago at the time of their independence the leaderships of Guinea Bissau & Cape Verde united under the single party banner of the PAIGC & declared their joint political objective of the unification of both territories. It is an objective which today, considering the vastly different circumstances of each country, seems almost bizarre. While Guinea-Bissau appears to stagger between political crisis & military interventions on a permanent basis, Cape Verde seems to be extracting itself from the "African space" altogether. This article tracks the widening trajectories of both countries since their independence in an effort to understand why, at the beginning of the new millennium, they appear to face utterly different political & economic prospects. Adapted from the source document.

Africa has accounted for a disproportionate part of the peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations for at least the past fifteen years (Portuguese-speaking Africa being prominent in this). It seems clear that this situation results from difficulties in the implementation of the post-independence state -- whether as a result of externally generated pressures or of internal issues of political culture or both. This extensive intervention in African conflict has been motivated not only by humanitarian imperatives but also by the 'necessity' of maintaining the fabric of the 'Westphalian' system of states (a concern given greater urgency by the 'war on terror'). While there has been considerable discussion of 'African solutions for African problems' as an alternative, it is likely that UN peacekeeping will retain a prominent place in African conflict management for the foreseeable future. Tables. Adapted from the source document.

Examines European security cooperation in the post-Cold War environment, particularly following the US war on Iraq. The impact on dimensions of European security of post-Cold War events are reviewed, including Russia's political transition & the end of Yugoslavia. NATO's enhanced influence & centrality to European security & the neoconservative US administration of George W. Bush are analyzed for impact on European security policy. The contributions to the journal are introduced. L. Collins Leigh

Just before midnight on 10 November 1975 Portugal's high commissioner in Angola, along with the last remnants of the Portuguese army in Africa, embarked for Lisbon. Earlier in the day he had formally transferred sovereignty not to a successor government but to 'the Angolan people', a formulation which permitted Portugal to 'decolonise' without taking sides in the civil war which was at that time reaching its climax in Angola. Immediately the perfunctory ceremony in Luanda ended, the Portuguese officials left at speed for the harbour and the relative safety of their ships which departed immediately. Thus ended Portugal's 500-year empire in Africa. It is tempting to see Portugal's indecorous withdrawal from Angola as an emblematic climax to an increasingly destructive relationship with the former jewel in its African crown. In this view, the chaotic circumstances of Angola's road to independence had brought Portugal's own fragile and unstable post-revolutionary state to the point of destruction. Yet a quite different view can be proposed. The political and diplomatic challenges thrown down by the Angolan crisis might be seen, on the contrary, to have had a 'disciplining' effect on a revolutionary process in Portugal which was threatening to spin out of control as a result of its own internal pressures. Arguably, rather than exacerbating these pressures, the demands of events in Angola had a unifying effect on an otherwise fragmenting state.