Customer Reviews (12)

Informational and intriguing; horrific editing
Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State is a thorough and thought-provoking look at Liberia's colored history. It follows Liberia's creation as a country for freed American slaves through its subsequent periods of war and political turmoil. John-Peter Pham explores the consequences of outside intervention in the affairs of struggling states, particularly when such intervention involves the UN. He gives his own analysis and conclusions as to why Liberia qualifies as a failed state, and why intervention in Liberia has been all but completely useless.

All in all, it's very fascinating and informational. After walking away from this book, I felt I could have taken a general quiz on the country's history and done fairly well. In parts it reads like a drama, despite being written in a more technical and objective manner; perhaps this says more about the state of Sub-Saharan Africa than the author's talents as a writer, but there were times when I put down the book after a session of reading feeling more than a little shaken. There's some pretty heavy stuff here.

This book would get my full recommendation were it not for the appalling editing. I can say with complete honesty that I have never read a book with more spelling errors, sentence fragments, and similar grammatical mishaps. There were points where for several pages in a row, I could point out AT LEAST one mistake per page, and there were at least a few circumstances where within a single sentence there were multiple grammatical errors. There were times where these faults actually clouded whatever Pham was trying to say, and I as the reader had to unravel these editing oversights. Normally, I can overlook grammatical issues as simple mistakes (everyone makes them, right?), but in this case I can't for two reasons: 1) The sheer volume of them is just embarrassing, and they popped up frequently enough that my concentration was constantly being interrupted (aggravating when the book's subject matter is something that requires focus), and 2) The back flap of the book boasts about the author's multiple advanced degrees, so I would assume that he at least knows how to write without making such gross amounts of grammatical mistakes.

If you can get over the terrible editing, however, the book proves to be informational and insightful. Too few Westerners are aware of the tragedies of Sub-Saharan Africa. Although atrocities such as the Rwandan genocide and the conflict in Darfur have been brought to public attention, there have been (and still are) a host of other tragedies throughout the continent that haven't received proper attention. Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State offers a semblance of logic to the country's regretful history; just beware, you may not be able to wade through some of the writing.

Great except for the elephant in the room
No I don't mean Reagan.

Very informative. Much background info from the 80s & 90s on the entire region's current problems. An early descriptor of the blood diamond conflict. My only critique: Neither the intro nor conclusion mentions the fundamental problem underlying the crisis in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, Burkino Faso, etc, namely their illogical, post-colonial Euro-imposed boundaries.

The failed state of Liberia.
This book tells a short summary of the failed African state of Liberia.The authors tells of the founding of this country by freed African slaves from North America, and those rescued from illegal slaving ships.

The author is an ex U.S. diplomat to Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Liberia.His knowledge of the internal policics of all these countries is immense.The book enlightened me on the politics of this region.

There is one area I disagree with the author.The author argues that outside intervention causes a country a more difficult transition.Only in cases where there is is a substancial interest, should the outside world intervene in a civil war such as Liberia's.If this is what the author means, the U.N. (and U.S.) should not intervene in any state conflicts even if genocide is occuring.I hope this is not what he means.The U.N. and the U.S. have the means to prevent this type of slaughter.Intervention does cause difficulties and is not the solution in all cases, but neither should it be discarded because it might cause a more difficult transition.

This is an interesting read on a country that modeled itself like the U.S.Unfortunately this state has failed and is attempting to put itself together again.

Thorough and Insightful
Mr Pham is particularly adept at providing context for the collapse of Liberia. His summaries of the political and social turmoil in neighboring West African states are superb. While these neither explain nor exonerate the unspeakable crimes of Liberian warlord turned President Charles Taylor, they do explain many of the Liberian leaders motivations and excesses, as well as demonstrate that these crimes, like most crimes against humanity, rarely occur in a vaccuum.

Misinformed reader
I have only read partial excerpts from the novel, but have one complaint from a reader who made his/her comments known. Ronald Reagan was not the President of the United States when Charles Taylor came to power in Liberia. Yes, the United States has unfortunately backed ill-advised tyranical henchmen in many parts of the world, I find it troubling to blame it all on President Reagan. One can go back throughout history, and see many western nations meddling, colonizing, and using self interest without respect to parts of the world. Thank you. ... Read more

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Analyzes Liberian history to show how ethnic bigotry caused a toxic political, social, and cultural crisis that culminated in its civil wars from 1989 to 2003. The author also discusses theoretical models with practical methods for bridging ethnic difference, giving the work widespread relevance in conflict resolution. ... Read more

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Chapters: Armed Forces of Liberia, Vice-President of Liberia, Anti-Terrorist Unit, Ministers of the Liberian Government, National Port Authority, Liberia, National Election Commission, List of Liberian Foreign Ministers, Central Bank of Liberia, Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 45. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) was constituted in 1962 from the original Liberian military that had been established in 1908 as the Liberian Frontier Force. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 194189 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisors. This assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world. For most of the Cold War, the AFL saw little action, apart from a reinforced company group which was sent to ONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1960s. This changed with the advent of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989. The AFL became entangled in the conflict, which lasted from 1989 to 199697, and then the Second Liberian Civil War, which lasted from 1999 to 2003. The AFL is in the process of being reformed and retrained after being completely demobilised following the second civil war. The AFL currently consists of two infantry battalions, though the reconstitution of the Liberian Coast Guard and an air wing is planned. The Liberian Government has requested that a Nigerian Army officer serve as head of the military during the transitional period. The New National Defense Act of 2008 was approved on August 21, 2008. It repeals the National Defense Act of 1956, the Coast Guard Act of 1959, and the L...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=17799 ... Read more

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Liberia Foreign Policy and Government Guide (World Business Law Handbook Library) ... Read more

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This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Liberian Christianity--far from being a force for justice and human advancement--diverted attention from the cause of Liberia's ills, left change to God's miraculous intervention, encouraged obedience and acceptance of the status quo, and thus served to entrench Doe's power. This Christianity, devised in and controlled from the United States, thus furthered regional American economic and political objectives, which were designed to support Doe's rule. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well-researched
The author vividly captures some of the social ills which characterized the autocratic regime of Samuel Doe which eventually led to the bloodbath which decimated Liberia. An excellent read for anyone who wishes to understand the collusion between the African Christian church and some autocratic regimes in Africa. ... Read more

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This work focuses on deeply embedded political values that are shared by the vast majority of Liberia's population. Its conclusions are that Liberian politics failed because of civil society's illiberal overemphasis on stability and order at the expense of tolerance and accountability. ... Read more

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Liberia Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook (World Foreign Policy and Government Library) ... Read more

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Chapters: Liberian Foreign Ministers, Edwin Barclay, Charles D. B. King, Hilary Teague, Henry Boimah Fahnbulleh, Olubanke King Akerele, Joseph Rudolph Grimes, Gabriel Baccus Matthews, Louis Arthur Grimes, Clarence Lorenzo Simpson, George Wallace, Monie Captan, Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks, Cecil Dennis, Momolu Dukuly, Gabriel Lafayette Dennis, Thomas Nimely, Lewis Brown, Ernest Eastman, John Bernard Blamo, Momolu Sirleaf. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 56. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt:Charles Cecil Dennis (1931 April 22, 1980) was a Liberian political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President William Tolbert from 1973 until the coup d'état by Samuel Doe on April 12, 1980. Along with other members of Tolbert's Cabinet, he was promptly put on trial and executed by firing squad ten days after the coup.He was preceded as Foreign Minister by Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks and eventually replaced by Gabriel Bacchus Matthews .A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Charles D.B. King Charles Dunbar Burgess King (1875 1961) was a politician in Liberia of Freetown Creole descent (both of King's parents were ethnic Creoles). He was a member of the True Whig Party , which ruled the country from 1878 until 1980. He served as the 17th President of Liberia from 1920 until 1930.King was the foreign minister of Liberia from 1912 until he was elected President in 1920. Though a moderate supporter of reform, he continued to support the patronage machine and dominance of the True Whig party.He was challenged in the presidential election of 1927 by Thomas J.R. Faulkner. According to an official statement King had received 234,000 votes; however, at the time Liberia had only 15,000 registered voters. This won King the dubious achievement of being listed in the Guinness Book of Records 1982 for the most fraudule... ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1841. 18 pages. This volume is produced from digital images from the Cornell University Library Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

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Very similar in some ways, but strikingly different in others, Sierra Leone and Liberia have an obvious appeal for comparative analysis. They share the legacy of foundation by immigrants of African descent and the juxtaposition of these with indigenous peoples, but within the contrasting institutional frameworks of settler independence and British colonialism. They have similar social and economic structures but sharply dissimilar political records: Liberia has long been regarded as the classic case of stability at the price of oligarchy, whereas Sierra Leone, after a period as West Africa's most successful two-party democracy, suffered a succession of military coups and by 1973 was effectively a single-party state. This study seeks to analyse and account for both similarities and differences, looking at the two countries' experience in the 1960s and early 1970s, not only in central politics but also at the local level and in economic policy. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Critical Arts, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1649 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Power and Press Freedom in Liberia, 1830-1970: The Impact of Globalization and Civil Society on Media-Government Relations.(Book review)
Author: Jeffrey M. Sehume
Publication: Critical Arts (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 19Issue: 1-2Page: 204(4)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more