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Title: | Crisis and Intervention: How ECOMOG (Economic Community Monitoring Group) Brought about Peace in Liberia, But Was Still Unable to Guarantee a Democratic New Beginning |
Authors: | Korte, Werner Kappel, Robert |
Year: | 2000 |
Periodical: | Liberian Studies Journal |
Volume: | 25 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 83-105 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Liberia |
Subjects: | civil wars military intervention ECOWAS peacekeeping forces Military, Defense and Arms Politics and Government Inter-African Relations |
Abstract: | The prerequisite for ECOWAS military intervention in Liberia in 1990 was the destruction of the Liberian State in the preceding period. The ECOWAS intervention, based on particular political constellations, fears and expectations, was legally controversial. Following the November 1990 Cease Fire Agreement and Peace Plan signed between Ecomog, the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU), the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), ECOWAS was for years unable to persuade Charles Taylor's NPFL to adhere to cease fires and peace resolutions. The Ecomog mission changed from peacekeeping to peace enforcement, and Ecomog became a party to the war. The Cotonou (1993), Akosombo and Accra (1994) Agreements opened the way for the Liberian war parties to gain influence in Monrovia's civil transition government. An end to the civil war was reached only after Taylor finally yielded to a solution by way of nonmilitary negotiation in 1995-1996 (Abuja I and II). The ECOWAS intervention had not only to end the war but also to redevelop democratic structures. Its main successes were the 1996 peace pact and the 1997 presidential and parliamentary elections. A cost-benefit analysis of Ecomog intervention highlights the problems resulting from war and indicates the benefits of measures that prevent civil war in the first place. Bibliogr., notes, ref. |