Liberian Politics tells the fascinating story of Liberia's early nation-building efforts, its attempts to establish democracy, and the pivotal role played by African Americans in exporting the American democratic experiment to Liberia. The story of the rise of Africa's oldest democracy is told through the writings of J. Milton Turner, an African American diplomat who served in Liberia from 1871 to 1878. Turner's official diplomatic correspondence--superbly organized and edited by Walton, Rosser, and Stevenson--document Liberia's struggle to define its political institutions and processes. They chart Liberia's struggle to establish its relationship with the wider world and offer an intimate portrait of Turner's role as the agent of U.S. foreign policy in Liberia. A comparative study in the best tradition of Tocqueville and Myrdal, this pathbreaking work reveals the global dimensions of nineteenth-century African American politics and offers rich insight into the direction of early U.S. diplomacy in Africa.

2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. Liberia Foreign Policy and Government Guide

Liberia is a political and historical work by Frederick Starr, an American academic, anthropologist, and educator. He dedicated a lot of works to the problems of African countries and the state of the workers in the colonies.

The Armed Forces of Liberia: A Continuum to the Liberian Democracy examines the Liberian security framework and seeks to explore root causes that have shaped the security landscape in the West African nation. The book considers internal and external links in diplomacy, international relations, politics, economics, and public-policy decisions that have dovetailed into the negative employment of security forces. The Natives–settlers divide in Liberia, the early settlers’ government that excluded the Natives, the ushering in of a military regime that brought an end to Americo-Liberian rule, and the mismatches in doctrinal contexts due to failure of the Liberian government to plan for strategic sourcing of military requirements that meet the current and future needs of security in Liberia are major aspects of this research. Simply put, the research aims at creating a correlation between public-policy decisions (or indecision) and military outcomes as well as how these outcomes affect the animal spirit of investment in Liberia for sustained economic development.

It is the condition of modernity that an institution cannot depend on a god, tradition, or any other transcendental source to secure its foundations, which thereby come to rest upon – or rather in, and through – its subjects. Never wholly separated from its subjects, and yet never identical with them: this contradictory condition provides a way of seeing how modern law gives form to life, and how law takes form, enlivened by its subjects. By driving Theodor Adorno’s dialectical philosophy into the concept of law, the book shows how this contradictory condition enables law to become instituted in ways that are hostile to its subjects, but also how law remains open to its subjects, and thus disposed towards transformation. To flesh out an understanding of this contradiction, the book examines the making and remaking of “Liberia”, from its conception as an idea of liberty at the beginning of the nineteenth century to its reconstruction at the beginning of the twenty-first with the assistance of an international intervention to “establish a state based on the rule of law”. In so doing, the book shows how law is at the epicentre of a colonising power in Liberia that renders subjects as mere objects; but at the same time, the book exposes the instability of this power, by showing how law is also enlivened by its subjects as it takes form in and through their lives and interactions. It is this fundamentally contradictory condition of law that ultimately denies power any absolute hold, leaving law open to the self-expression of its subjects.

This book identifies and analyzes the historical, political, cultural, and social stratification that created lacks of development in a country that has been independent for more than 160 years. The book reveals that the descendants of the freed American slaves treated the indigenous Liberians as second-class citizens and less than human beings. They and their forefathers were treated less than human beings while in slavery in America. These actions were identified as primary causes for the underdevelopment of the country. The author of this book traces and uncovers the unique formation of the country and subsequent leadership style and the social stratification as well as the Americo-Liberian oligarchic regime as hindrance for development of Africas first republic. The purpose of the book is to show to the Liberian people some of the major causes that led to the Liberian political and social conflict, which resulted into complete underdevelopment of the country and the level of poverty in the country. The findings of this book will help Liberians and other interested people to learn the lessons that when there are suppressions and oppressions in a society, those oppressed will revolt against their oppressors. The book concludes that Liberias inclusive participation can once again be restored provided the Americo-Liberians are prepared for the inclusion of the various ethnic groups. Finally, the book would like to recommend that only Liberians at home and abroad are the actual cornerstones for peace, national rehabilitation, reconstruction, and recovery. This book predicts that the successes in Liberia will not only create a stable environment for democracy in Liberia but will also have a profound level of development as well as impact on peace in the West African subregion, particularly the Mano River Union countries.

This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Liberian Christianity--far from being a force for justice and human advancement--diverted attention from the cause of Liberia's ills, left change to God's miraculous intervention, encouraged obedience and acceptance of the status quo, and thus served to entrench Doe's power. This Christianity, devised in and controlled from the United States, thus furthered regional American economic and political objectives, which were designed to support Doe's rule.

Covering everything from sports to art, religion, music, and entrepreneurship, this book documents the vast array of African American cultural expressions and discusses their impact on the culture of the United States. According to the latest census data, less than 13 percent of the U.S. population identifies as African American; African Americans are still very much a minority group. Yet African American cultural expression and strong influences from African American culture are common across mainstream American culture—in music, the arts, and entertainment; in education and religion; in sports; and in politics and business. African American Culture: An Encyclopedia of People, Traditions, and Customs covers virtually every aspect of African American cultural expression, addressing subject matter that ranges from how African culture was preserved during slavery hundreds of years ago to the richness and complexity of African American culture in the post-Obama era. The most comprehensive reference work on African American culture to date, the multivolume set covers such topics as black contributions to literature and the arts, music and entertainment, religion, and professional sports. It also provides coverage of less-commonly addressed subjects, such as African American fashion practices and beauty culture, the development of jazz music across different eras, and African American business.