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11282. Ethiopian Ethnic Federalism and Regional Autonomy: The Somali Test

Author:
Abdi Ismail Samatar
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In the 1990s in Africa, two sharply contrasting models of state-society relations and the role of ethnicity in national affairs have emerged. The first is the unitary dispensation that rejects the ethnic classification of its citizens while cognizant of the ill effects of a race and ethnicbased apartheid order. The African National Congress (ANC) and its allies in South Africa opted for a strategy they thought would ensure the country's political and administrative restructuring but would not perpetuate sectarian ethnic identity at the expense of citizenship. Consequently, the post-apartheid regional administrative structure and boundaries are not based on ethnicity. Further, the populations in these regions elect their provincial councils, and have gained some degree of fiscal autonomy, although South Africa remains a unitary state. A key manifestation of the system's competitiveness is the fact that opposition parties have governed two of the wealthiest and most populous regions for most of the past decade and the ANC has been unable to dislodge them until the most recent election in 2004. Although the ANC won the most votes in Kwa Zulu–Natal and the Western Cape, it lacks a majority in these provincial councils to unilaterally form regional administrations. This openness of the political process has made possible a significant degree of regional autonomy in a unitary system.
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, and Somalia

11283. In Siyaad Barre's Prison: A Brief Recollection

Author:
Mahamud M. Yahya
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In my view and in the view of many witnesses of Somalia's recent history, an important element of the terrible abuse of power and authority during the dictatorial regime of the late Gen. Mohamed Siyaad Barre was the arbitrary and widespread detention of dissidents, political opponents, and even ordinary Somalis who just expressed an honest opinion on the state of affairs in their country. These incarcerations were usually without any charges, and, in the end, without trial. For this reason, men like Aden Abdillah Osman, the first President of the Somali Republic; Premier Abdirazak H. Hussein; the late Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, ex-President of the self-declared Somaliland Republic and former Prime Minister of Somalia; Abdillahi Issa, First Foreign Minister; Gen. Mohamed Abshir Muse, former Commander of Somalia's Police Force; Michael Mariano, pioneer nationalist, Parliamentarian, and distinguished civil servant; Col. Abdillahi Yusuf, current President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia; the late Gen. Mohamed Farah Aideed, former USC leader; and Col. Jama Ali Jama, one-time president of the Puntland region; each had to spend months or years in detention, some in solitary confinement. But they were never brought to a real court of justice because they were simply being persecuted for reasons that included possibly rallying righteous disapproval and discontent, competition for power, or because Siyaad Barre disliked them personally.
Political Geography:
Somalia

11284. A Thorn in the Sole: Short Story

Author:
Ahmed Ismail Yusuf
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Mayxaano was a twenty-six-and-a-half-year-old revered writer, though I have to remind you there were many people who reviled her, too. She debated with men about politics, philosophy, and religion with gusto. She wore her hair loose, without the Muslim head-scarf. She ran track and field, leaving most men in the dust, and, worst of all, it was rumored that she dared to write critical articles about the repressive regime in Somalia in newspapers abroad. Women vilified her publicly yet admired her privately. Men of all shades, however, would stumble over each other to have her attention for even a minute.
Political Geography:
Somalia

11285. For the Record: International Crisis Group Report on Somaliland: An Alternative Somali Response

Author:
Ahmed I. Samatar and Abdi Ismail Samatar
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
The International Crisis Group's (ICG) most recent report on the Somali Republic deals with developments in the Northern region (Somaliland). It narrates what the informed knew all along: (a) that peace has been restored in most of the North for the past decade while the rest of the country, particularly Mogadishu and the southern third, are mired in violence; (b) that some semblance of constitutional order and administrative structure is in place; (c) that most of the public refused to accept naked force as a political instrument to deal with political problems; and (d) that corruption is pervasive among the political elite. Conceptually, the ICG report is divided into three parts. First, it provides a brief review of Somali political history. Second, it sketches the evolution of the region since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991 and the declaration of the region's breakaway status from the rest of the country. Finally, it focuses on three elections organized in the last three years, in order to buttress the claim that the region deserves to be recognized as a sovereign country. This information raises pivotal questions about the profile of the region as well as the fate of the Somali people. Together, these two points invite a timely, wide, and thoughtful debate among Somalis and others concerned. After serious cogitation upon the details of the document, we submit that the Report presents important points for the international community to come to the aid of the people of the region to consolidate their communal achievements—particularly in the areas of stability, economic advancement, and institution building. However, the Report fails to clinch the argument for international recognition of a new sovereign Somaliland state in the Horn of Africa. The rest of this critical assessment elucidates this proposition.
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

11286. Fourastié avant Fourastié: La construction d'une légitimité d'expert

Author:
Olivier Dard
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
Décédé depuis 1990, Jean Fourastié demeure présent à travers certains titres d'ouvrages, le plus célèbre étant Les Trente Glorieuses. Le succès de ce livre, comme de bien d'autres, a fait de Fourastié une sorte de phénomène de l'édition, spécialisé dans des ouvrages d'un type particulier qui depuis lors a fait florès: l'essai économique grand public. On ne saurait négliger en effet les 400 000 exemplaires vendus de trois livres à succès publiés de 1945 à 1949: L'Économie française dans le monde, La Civilisation de 1960 et Le Grand Espoir du XX è siècle 1. Dès les lendemains de la guerre, les ouvrages de Fourastié ont connu un incontestable retentissement en France comme à l'étranger, ce don't atteste une quantité impressionnante de comptes rendus, les multiples solicitations dont il est l'objet pour des conférences et les nombreuses traductions de ses ouvrages.
Political Geography:
France

11287. Michel Leiris, French Anthropology, and a Side Trip to the Antilles

Author:
Sally Price
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
Susan Sontag seems to have been on to something when she placed her word portraits of Michel Leiris and Claude Lévi-Strauss back to back. An elaboration of her comparison (which was more implied than explicit) may help situate anthropological practice in France-and Leiris' special role in it-within the larger context of trends elsewhere in the world.

11288. An Enigma Still: Poujadism Fifty Years On

Author:
James G. Shields
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
The day began on a solemn note. The laying of a wreath at the war memorial and a minute's silence for the fallen of Saint-Céré, victims of conflicts from the trenches to Algeria. Red, white and blue carnations, laid by Pierre Poujade and his wife, Yvette. Flanking them, two mayors in their Republican sashes, sons of early-day poujadistes. A picture of respectful, patriotic commemoration.
Political Geography:
Algeria

11289. Between Europe and a Hard Place: French Financial Diplomacy from 1995 to 2002

Author:
Daphne Josselin
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
In the mid-1990s, a series of financial crises placed international financial stability and North-South dialogue once again very firmly on the agenda of economic diplomacy. These had long been pet topics for the French: back in the 1960s, President Charles de Gaulle had famously clamoured for the establishment of a new monetary order; the summitry set up, on French initiative, in 1975, had been largely focused on exchange rate stability and North-South relations; in the 1980s, President Mitterrand had made repeated appeals for a "new Bretton Woods." One could therefore expect the French to contribute actively to debates on how best to reform the international financial architecture.
Topic:
Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Europe and France

11290. An Extremism of the Center? Jean-Pierre Chevènement, French Presidential Candidate, 2002

Author:
Sharif Gemie
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
There are few politicians who can claim that they have, literally, come back from the dead. Jean-Pierre Chevènement can make a still more dramatic declaration: He is a man who has been reborn twice. Chevènement was the French minister of the Interior from 1997-2000, in the last Jospin government. In October 1998 he was admitted to hospital for a routine gall-bladder operation. Following a complication in the anaesthetic procedure, his heart stopped beating for forty-five minutes. He fell into a deep coma that lasted for three weeks, during which he drifted in a muffled, foggy world inhabited by strange beasts, as he later recalled.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
France