A Review Of U S Policy And Current Events In Kenya Malawi And Somalia

Using the longue duree approach and the political economy approach, The State, Counterinsurgency, and Political Policing in Colonial and Postcolonial Malawi, 1891-1994 studies Malawi's colonial and post-colonial history. Malawi is a former British Protectorate, formerly known as the Nyasaland Protectorate. Paul Chiudza Banda analyzes the story of the rise of insurgencies in Malawi and adopts the concept of "counterinsurgency" to address the reactions of the state to those who challenged its legitimacy and authority. Banda explores the factors behind the rise of insurgency, such as land alienation, high taxation, elements of forced labor, and denial of development opportunities. Banda also examines the counterinsurgency measures used by the state, such as the use of brutal force (especially through the police and other para-military groups), the codification of strict laws, and the offer of development opportunities. Through Malawi’s history, Banda provides an analysis on why citizens challenge state authority, how the state responds, and what methods the state uses to defeat insurgencies.

Today the United States is fighting a "war" against terrorism, a military action whose definition will be a matter of controversy, particularly, if history is any guide, between Congress and the president. Throughout its history, the United States has grappled with the constitutional tension built into the conduct of its foreign affairs and the interpretation of the power to make war and use force abroad. Since the Cold War's end, the United States has had to navigate through a period of strategic ambiguity, where American national security interests are much less certain. Ryan Hendrickson examines the behavior of the Clinton administration and Congress in dealing with the range of American military operations that occurred during the Clinton presidency. He uses a case-study approach, laying out the foreign background and domestic political controversies in separate chapters on Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq. Of special interest after the World Trade Center attacks is the chapter "Terrorism: Usama Bin Laden." The author analyzes a number of factors that influence the domestic decision-making process. We see the president relying on congressional consultation and approval during periods of political or personal weakness, and, conversely, in better times we see a president with a freer hand. Also influential is the ability of the public to comprehend and support the reasons for a particular action, with troops in Bosnia requiring more explanation than cruise missiles over Baghdad. Consideration is given to the relevance and effectiveness of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a Watergate-era attempt by Congress to restore what it perceived to be its legitimate constitutional role in the decision to use force abroad.

In A Tapestry of African Histories: With Longer Times and Wider Geopolitics, contributors demonstrate that African historians are neither comfortable nor content with studying continental or global geopolitical, social, and economic events across the superficial divide of time as if they were disparate or disconnected. Instead, the chapters within the volume reevaluate African history through a geopolitically transcendent lens that brings African countries into conversation with other pertinent histories both within and outside of the continent. The collection analyzes the pre- and post-colonial eras within African countries such as Kenya, Malawi, and Sudan, examining major historical figures and events, struggles for independence and stability, contemporary urban settlements, social and economic development, as well as constitutional, legal, and human rights issues that began in the colonial era and persist to this day.