International aid is considered to be the key factor of peace-keeping in this and some other countries. Yet, is there hard evidence that this interference contributes to peace and political stability? This paper discusses the origins and the political legacy of the 1990-1997 complex political emergency (CPE) in Liberia, a country which, unlike most African states, has never been a formal colony.
The Liberian state was founded by settlers who arrived from 1822 onwards, originally freed US slaves who became known as ‘Americos’. The constitution of Liberia was modelled on that of the USA. However, the indigenous peoples have always been a legally, politically, socially and economically suppressed group. In 1980 an Americos dominated regime was overthrown by a military coup. This inaugurated a period of military government under Samuel Doe, a political leader of indigenous origin. A supposedly civilian government was formally installed under Doe’s presidency as well as a revised, but still quite ineffective, constitution which continued to be based on US principles of government. Doe was murdered in 1990, marking the final collapse of the Liberian state.
The Liberian wars appear to have been brought to an end by the peace agreement of August 1996 and the ensuing elections of Charles Taylor, leader of National Patriotic Front of Liberia, to the presidency in 1997. However, events since 1997 show few signs of a new and durable system of conflict management and suggest that the risk of the recurrence of crisis remains.
The article makes it clear that some international aid programs to Liberia do not contribute to political stabilisation but, on the contrary, court the danger that conflict will be renewed. Other conclusions from the article are that:
- Although Liberia was always torn by a complex of differences and inequalities between the Americos and the indigenous population, these differences were not directly responsible for the CPE.
- The breakdown of the Liberian state was caused partly by inherent weaknesses in the system, such as overcentralisation and authoritarian political culture, and partly by historically specific stresses, such as modernisation and the distribution of international aid.
- The intervention of international powers at the beginning of the 1990s did not stop the conflict but, on the contrary, turned a crisis common for the sub-Saharan region into a long-running complex political emergency.
- The regime of president Taylor substantially resembles its predecessors and, consequently, does not guarantee political stability in Liberia.
Liberia is at critical crossroads. Its future, to a large extent, depends on international donor organisations. Policy pointers for international organisations include the need for:
- Making the distribution of international aid strictly dependant on the activity of the government
- Establishing aid programs directed at the institutionalisation of good governance
- Establishing aid programs directed at the strengthening of civil society
- Shifting partnership with aid programs from government ministries to civil society
