Suchergebnisse

MUCH OF THE WORLD SEES AFRICA AS ONE OF TWO EXTREMES. EITHER IT IS A CONTINENT BESET BY GENOCIDAL WARFARE, CORRUPT LEADERS, AND RAMPANT POVERTY OR IT IS A REGION ABOUT TO ENTER A DEMOCRATIC AND ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE. IN REALITY, AFRICA IS NEITHER ON THE VERGE OF ANARCHY NOR AT THE DAWN OF RENEWAL. AFRICANS HAVE BEGUN CONFRONTING THEIR CONTINENT'S PROBLEMS, BUT THEY ARE DOING SO IN A MANNER THAT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MIGHT NOT ALWAYS FIND ACCEPTABLE.

The changing nature of the Eritrean conflict in Ethiopia & attempts at resolution are examined. After thirty years of war between the Eritrean nationalists & the Ethiopian government, the conflict has widened through the organization of liberation movements in other parts of the country, most notably the People's Liberation Front in Tigre. In changing from a bilateral conflict to a multilateral one, the prospect for resolution has decreased because requisite conditions for successful negotiations are absent in transitional conflicts, eg, a mutually hurting stalemate & the existence of valid spokesmen. Adapted from the source document.

THE COST OF DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT - THE PRICE TAG ATTACHED TO BUILDING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, ELECTORAL PROCESSES, AND EVEN POLITICAL PARTIES AND CIVIL-SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS - IS AN ISSUE THAT HAS RECEIVED SCANT ATTENTION. THE AUTHORS ARGUE THAT LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDC) NEED DEMOCRACY, BUT THE DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND PROCESSES THEY CAN AFFORD ARE LIMITED, DIFFERENT FROM THOSE IN USE IN THE ESTABLISHED INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACIES, AND PROBABLY LESS THAN IDEAL. IN TRYING TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY, DONORS NEED TO CONSIDER THE COST TO A MUCH GREATER EXTENT THAN THEY DO NOW. IN THREE KEY AREAS - ELECTIONS, POLITICAL PARTIES, AND CIVIL SOCIETY - PATTERN OF SUPPLY-DRIVEN CHANGE, INSTITUTIONAL MODELS BASED ON THE CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, AND RELIANCE ON EXTERNAL SUPPORT IS MAKING DEMOCRACY TOO EXPENSIVE FOR LDCS TO SUPPORT ON THEIR OWN.