<p>Abstract</p><p>Sierra Leone is a very poor country in Africa. Botswana is another country, that has a similar history and the same deposit; diamonds. Botswana has reached economic growth and democracy and Sierra Leone has not.</p><p>The purpose with this study is to explain why Botswana is more democratic and has reached a better result economic than Sierra Leone.</p><p>The questions in this study are:</p><p>What explains the democratic and the economic results in Sierra Leone and Botswana?</p><p>* Dahl’s institutions that furthers a polyarchy?</p><p>* Gunnarsson’s and Rojas’ institutional explanations?</p><p>* Diamond’s and Morlino’s ”rule of law”?</p><p>* Other explanations or a combination of the above-mentioned explanations?</p><p>The method that has been used in this study is a comparative case study with a qualitative contents analysis. The result is that it’s hard to say that one explanation is the right one. It’s more likely a combination of multiple factors that furthers democracy and economic development. Not just one combination is the right one, but the institutional explanation about the autonomy of the state is very important for the result.</p>

Thèse de doctorat : Histoire : Lyon 2 : 2000. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.

The response of geomorphic systems to disturbance has been a major focus of geographic research. Nevertheless, because the sensitivity of geomorphic systems to external perturbation is complex, the response of those systems is still poorly understood for many agricultural systems in various geographic settings. This study investigates geomorphic sensitivity and soil erosion under traditional slash-and-burn cultivation. The response of soil erosion to this agricultural practice was investigated in selected plots at different stages of cultivation, representing a chronosequence of slash-and-burn cultivation for the study site. Selected physical and hydrological properties were measured in the field or determined in the laboratory from soil samples obtained from the selected plots. Soil erosion was monitored for the selected plots using bounded runoff plots. Finally, the response of soil erosion to slash-and- burn was assessed at the watershed scale by adapting the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation to local field conditions. The study results showed that soil’s selected physical and hydrological properties differed according to the age of cultivation. In general, soil properties, such as organic matter, aggregate stability, and infiltration, showed signs of deterioration during the cultivation phase and improvement during the fallow stage of slash-and-burn cultivation. These differences in turn resulted in differences in the erodibility of the soil and the response of soil erosion at the plot scale. The soil erosion rate was observed to be higher during the cultivation stage of slash-and-burn cultivation and lower during the fallow stage. The lowest rate of erosion was recorded in natural forest plots. Overall, soil erosion rates were low considering the study site’s mountainous nature. The results of this study suggest that the response of soil erosion under the practice of slash-and burn cultivation could be minimal in a potentially sensitive humid tropical mountainous environment depending on the specific cover produced, the environmental factors, and the specific cultural management, such as cropping and tilling practices. Maintaining adequate ground cover through cropping and fallow management is the key to keeping soil erosion minimal under the practice of slash-and-burn cultivation in the study area. / text

Décollements are important tectonic elements in thin-skinned fold-thrust belts. However, few studies have addressed the internal structure of décollements because most are deeply buried and internal features typically cannot be resolved in seismic reflection images. Upper Jurassic evaporite exposures in the Potosí uplift of northeastern Mexico provide a unique tectonic window into the décollement of the Laramide-age Sierra Madre Oriental fold belt. In order to constrain the three-dimensional geometry of décollement structures, I mapped a ~20 km2 portion of the décollement at a scale of 1:10,000. I created a new stratigraphy for the décollement interval during mapping, and made detailed structural observations at targeted sites. The ~900 m thick décollement interval consists of gypsum with five carbonate members (up to 120 m thick) and numerous thin (<5 m) carbonate interbeds. These carbonate units delineate map-scale structural patterns and define two structural domains. The middle and upper parts of the décollement in the western domain contain map-scale folds with local map-scale boudinage and thrust faults. The eastern domain exposes the lower part of the décollement, and contains thrust repetitions of carbonate members and a regionally-persistent basal shear zone. These map relationships indicate a stratigraphic variation in structural style. Western domain folds and eastern domain thrust sheets both appear to be related kinematically to overburden folding. In contrast, the basal shear zone accommodated décollement-parallel shear strain in response to overburden translation. Folding and faulting of carbonate members and intervening gypsum units drove localization of simple shear into the basal shear zone, because only the lowermost gypsum interval maintained a favorable orientation sub-parallel to the regional transport direction throughout deformation. This investigation demonstrates that décollements have complex internal structural patterns that are below typical seismic resolution and lateral variations in structural style that cannot be reconstructed from single well cores or small outcrops. Décollement stratigraphy controls variations in strain magnitude within the décollement interval, so that previous models that invoke homogeneous strain within the décollement are incorrect. Complex, laterally-variable structural style and stratigraphic control of strain distribution could be general characteristics of décollements where the décollement interval contains significant contrasts in bed rheology. / text

This thesis aimed to examine the possibilities and benefits of implementing agroforestry projects in Sierra Leone by comparing different agroforestry systems used in a Tanzanian project that consider carbon sequestration. Farmers involved in this type of projects get income from sold carbon credits as well as from other products that an agroforestry system could provide. Sierra Leone is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, with most of the population living in rural conditions. It was investigated what the potential economic and environmental impact different agroforestry systems considering carbon storage could have in Sierra Leone. The study was based on empirical material from a case community Makari. The conclusions were that Sierra Leone could benefit greatly from agroforestry projects, especially at community level where it could provide additional sources of food and income. From a greater perspective it could give environmental benefits as well as securing wood commodities like fuelwood for the future. Starting up a project would however be a high risk investment with a troublesome implementation process and complications on a daily basis.

The Sierra Leonean Creoles, formed by a conglomeration of black returnees to Africa, arrived over the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth century from Britain, Nova Scotia, the West Indies, and other parts of Africa. Heavily influenced by the British, their culture set them apart from the surrounding natives. That distinction resulted in critical identity problems as British philanthropy turned into colonial racism. The Rambler was a contributor to the Sierra Leone Weekly News from 1913 to 1919 and from 1929 to 1939. His work suggests that he was an energetic and informed thinker. Historians use him to support points concerning Creole and West African history, but do not examine him completely. His work, examined holistically, reveals a Creole still struggling with British abandonment, native encroachment, and Creole obstinacy while clinging to the civilizing mission. His struggle fails and eventually he dismisses the civilizing morality, subscribing instead to a racially assertive morality.

This volume critically examines what happens when war formally ends, the difficult and complex challenges and opportunities for winning the peace and reconciling divided communities. By reviewing a case study of the West African state of Sierra Leone, potential lessons for other parts of the world can be gained. Sierra Leone has emerged as a 'successful' model of liberal peacebuilding that is now popularly advertised and promoted by the international community as a powerful example of a country that they finally got right. Concerns about how successful a model Sierra Leone actually is, are outlined in this project. As such this volume: provides a critical understanding of the nature, dynamics and complexity of post-war peacebuilding and development from an internal perspective; critically assesses the role and contribution of the international community to state reconstruction and post-war peacebuilding and evaluates what happens when war ends; and explores the potential relevance and impact of comparative international efforts of post-war state building and reconstruction in other parts of Africa and the world. The collection focuses not only on understanding the root causes of conflict but also identifying and appreciating the possibilities and opportunities for peace. The lessons found in this book resonate well beyond the borders of Sierra Leone and Africa in general.

Several organizations, most prominently the United Nations and the World Bank, have emphasized that ex-combatant reintegration is crucial to consolidating peace after war. Strategic thinking about peace-building and opportunities for international involvement in post-conflict states after the Cold War have focused attention on programs to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate fighters. Despite the resources and effort invested in reintegration programs, however, the evidence from Namibia, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone shows that significant problems linked to incomplete reintegration persist after formal programs end. These problems include widespread unemployment among former fighters, ex-combatant involvement in criminality, re-recruitment into neighboring conflicts, and political and social polarization of reintegration grievances. Left unmanaged, such problems threaten security even if they do not lead a state back to war. The thesis explains the persistence of reintegration problems in terms of two variables: the capacity (defined as resources, operational expertise, and authority) and preferences (defined as the explicit and implicit interests and assumptions that guide programs) of reintegration actors. The capacity and preferences of these actors are aggregate independent variables that are themselves the product of endogenous (organizational and bureaucratic) and exogenous (systemic) pressures that literature on political economy and international relations theory helps to elucidate (i.e., helps to determine how reintegration actors' own behavior exacerbates or ameliorates problems). Drawing on documentation and interviews, the thesis constructs a narrative of reintegration in each case and employs process tracing within cases to identify reintegration problems, measure their impact on security, and determine whether and how the capacity and preferences of reintegration actors contributed to the persistence of reintegration problems. The thesis uses comparative analysis to generalize inferences about the variables observed, and suggests potential solutions to improve the management of reintegration problems and creation of economic opportunities. Unless deeper issues of reintegration governance related to problem management and opportunity creation are addressed, targeted remedies to improve program design will not succeed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 12, 2009). "School of Earth and Environmental Science." Includes bibliographical references.

Humboldt-Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Berlin.