TOPICS: Cameroon, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan

Coordinator:
Christian Chereji, Iustin Mureșanu

Content – Sommaire:

 

 

ARTICLES in Issue 1 – October 2012:

 

Cameroon: the Anglophone Problem

Christian-Radu CHEREJI, Awoh Emmanuel LOHKOKO

Abstract:
The outcome of the plebiscite in February 11, 1961 and the deliberations of the Foumban conference established the basis of the union between “the two Cameroons”, a once German protectorate that lasted from 1884 to 1916. This reunification left much room for improvement, which culminated to what has come to be known as the Anglophone problem in Cameroon. The Anglophone elites have risen sharply to denounce what they refer to as a Francophone domination in the socio-economic, political, and judicial spheres. This paper attempts therefore a review of the core concerns of the Anglophone problem. It also delineates a constructive conflict management scheme, purported not only to interrogate, gauge previous and existing contributions to this end, but provide relevant inroads on how such a scheme can help incorporate the Anglophone elites to assume a more credible, proactive, and sustainable role in diffusing peacefully the tension, discord, conveying the problem of the SCNC and the government of Cameroon.

Key words:
Kamerun, La Republique du Cameroun, Southern Cameroon, Anglophone community, Southern Cameroon National Council, Paul Biya, United Nations, Kofi Annan

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NATO’s Exit Strategy in Afghanistan

Adrian POP

Abstract:
NATO is preparing to withdraw its military forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, leaving behind a tormented country. The article is analyzing the exit strategy put in place by NATO’s decision makers, starting with a brief overview of the Afghan conflict, focusing on its roots and key actors. Then we are reviewing some lessons learned from previous military interventions and we are proposing a theoretical framework for conflict termination, comparing it with NATO’s doctrine and the alliance’s actual enterprises in the Afghan theater of operations. We are considering the main aspects of moving the responsibility for security, governance and development from NATO and the international donors to the Afghan government and military forces, including the regional tensions and the debate about including the Taleban into the process.

Key words:
Afghanistan, NATO, exit strategy, Hamid Karzai, Afghan Security Forces, Taliban, ISAF, Provincial Reconstruction Team

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Syria. The Profile of a Conflict

Iustin MUREŞANU-IGNAT

A bstract:
The current conflict in Syria between an authoritarian regime and a freedom-hungry population can only be understood if a thorough analysis is made on the background of the conflict. The conditions of Syria’s geography, the population density and its ethnic and confessional structure, they all influence to the highest degree the dynamics of the Syria’s Arab Spring turned civil-war. Also, a rigid political structure based upon three pillars: The Alawite Minority, The Ba’ath Party and the Military and Security Establishment, explains why the regime played various Syrian social structures against one another until the economic requirements for such a power play were no longer sustainable, leading to a bloody uprising, which end cannot be determined yet, and of which’s outcome all Middle East fears.

Key words:
Syria, Alawite, Sunni, Shia, Druze, King Faisal I, Ba’ath Party, Hafez Al-Assad, Bashar Al-Assad, Six Days War, Golan Heights, Israel, Egypt, Palestine, Palestinian refugees, Arab Spring, civil war, Syrian National Council, Annan Peace Plan, Houla massacre

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Sudan vs. Sudan. Conflict, Peace and Oil

Ciprian SANDU

Abstract:
In the recent months events in South Sudan and Sudan have led many people to ask whether the two countries are at war or peace, and how peaceful each of them is internally. The two countries’ armies have clashed directly and cross-border incursions have recurred. People (civilians and combatants) have been killed and injured in violence, and the economy of each country has begun to stagnate or contract, together causing a mounting toll of suffering and loss of life. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the past 50 years of conflict between the two Sudans, and, more important, an analysis of the most important conflict drivers for this new tense situation. The article will present some key internal challenges for both states which are more important for a future long-standing peace than the oil sharing revenues or the shared national debt. Not least,
this article will criticize the CPA, which it was considered a great achievement but in the last seven years it created a lot of problems due to its abstract construction.

Kew words:
Sudan, South Sudan, First Sudanese War, Second Sudanese War, Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Abyei, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Dinka, Nuer, Azande, Misseriya Arabs, Omar al-Bashir