Conflict and Collusion in Sierra Leone [Hardcover]

David Keen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1403967180 | ISBN-13: 978-1403967183 | Publication Date: September 15, 2005

This book provides a history of the last ten years of Sierra Leone, including a new and insightful discussion of the Sierra Leonean war which questions the assumption that it is taking place between two parties and suggests instead that there are various armed groups that have little interest in ending the conflict. The war and continuing UN presence in Sierra Leone have made it one of the African countries given a good deal of attention in the international press, and Keen's book is the most up-to-date source of reliable information and insight on the current situation and recent history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is undoubtedly the most meticulously researched and detailed academic account of this most archetypal of 'new wars' (Keen does not use the term), and it is packed with lessons for policy-makers in peacekeeping and post-war reconstruction."
Tim Kelsall, International Affairs

 

"Rather than emerging from the UN Security Council chamber, from research institutions focused on econometric work, or from the boardrooms of private sector actors involved in civil war situations, this volume is rooted in Sierra Leone itself, often taking us to the city, town and village level to understand the local dynamics of war and survival... 'I can think of no scholar of the political economy of war who has more influenced policy thinking over the past ten years than Keen. I was fortunate to be one of the first to hear him describe his months of field research in Sierra Leone, where he sought to understand both the initial "drivers" of the conflict and those factors sustaining violence - nation-wide and locally."
David M. Malone, International Peace Academy

 

"How useful it would have been to have had his analysis during the tortuous attempts to bring an end to the conflict. 'The real value of David Keen's excellent book will be to ensure that, with this clearer understanding of what led to the tragedy of Sierra Leone, better attempts will be made to ensure that such events are not repeated and that lasting peace and prosperity will prevail. That's what the people of Sierra Leone want and deserve."
Peter Penfold, The Round Table

 

"This book deepens the New Barbarism critique in demonstrating the rationality, rather than the anarchy, of war in a context that seems anything but rational. Keen analyses the micro-foundations of the civil war in Sierra Leone to show that it was not just a collapse into chaos. Instead, the war - including extreme acts such as amputations - served particular functions and purposes for certain individuals and groups. '...the various fighting forces (including government soldiers and rebel RUF forces) often co-operated to achieve shared goals. 'Such a comprehensive analysis is a welcome addition to the literature examining Sierra Leone's civil war, particularly because it moves beyond the typical emphasis on greed - an easy motive to chalk the war up to, given Sierra Leone's enormous mineral wealth. Instead, as Keen points out, greed and grievance are often two sides of the same coin, rather than mutually exclusive phenomena. The challenge will be for scholars to take the same in-depth approach in other similar conflict situations, such as Liberia, to understand the dynamics and functions of conflicts that do not fit into conventional definitions and ideas about war."
Kendra Dupuy, Journal of Peace Research

 

"'If ever there was a war beyond reason, then surely this was it.' Thus concludes David Keen in his book Conflict and Collusion in Sierra Leone. In this detailed, well-researched and eminently readable study of the conflict in Sierra Leone, Keen makes an admirable attempt to provide 'an explanation for something that can never fully be explained.' 'What makes a 12-year old kill his own mother? What drives a movement to systematically destroy the homes and chop off the arms and legs of the very people it is claiming to represent? How can the international community pressurize a democratically elected government to share power with a despotic rebel leader and then a year later insist that this person face a war crimes tribunal for crimes against humanity?' These are just some of the questions David Keen attempts to unravel in analysing the bloody conflicts which plunged this small West African country into chaos at the end of the past century. ...How useful it would have been to have had his analysis during the tortuous attempts to bring an end to the conflict."
Peter Penfold, former British high commissioner to Sierra Leone, 1997-2000

From the Author

This book may shake up the way you think about war and violence.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403967180
• ISBN-13: 978-1403967183
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,786,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > History > Africa > Sierra Leone

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