A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE OF ECOMOG PEACE OPERATIONS IN LIBERIA AND SIERRA LEONE

A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE OF ECOMOG PEACE OPERATIONS IN LIBERIA AND SIERRA LEONE

Abstract:

This study is a comparative analysis of ECOMOG peacekeeping efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone with a view to highlighting the differences and similarities in approaches, the difficulties faced, and resulting consequences for the region while attempting to answer questions such as: should the UN be directly involved or should it just provide material and monetary support for ECOMOG? ECOMOG’s initial deployment, interventions, and operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone until 2000 are the focus of this study. The study will analyse in a comparative manner ECOMOG’s peace efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone by providing an in-depth picture of the situation vis-à-vis problems and peculiarities with a view to learning from past mistakes and aiding plans for future interventions. The first chapter traces the emergence of peacekeeping on the international scale and relates it to the birth of ECOMOG. Chapter two gives an overview of the some of the literature available on the subject and the trend in thinking. In chapter three the mandate of ECOMOG is considered in detail from which the operations in the two countries Liberia and Sierra Leone are analysed in Chapter four. In the final chapter is the conclusion drawn from the study, lessons to be taken from the case, and recommendations for the future.

A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE OF ECOMOG PEACE OPERATIONS IN LIBERIA AND SIERRA LEONE