Mauritania : the struggle for democracy / Noel Foster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Foster, Noel, 1985- author.

Series:

Studies on North Africa Mauritania

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Mauritania.

Democracy.

Mauritania--Politics and government--1960-.

Mauritania.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (323 p.)

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colorado : FirstForumPress, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Why did a clique of Mauritanian officers risk their lives to overthrow the autocrat they had served for twenty years, only to cede power to an elected civilian? And having won acclaim for their commitment to a process of democratic transition, why did most of these officers join a year later to overthrow the newly elected president? Had the international community been fooled by a military junta—or was it complicit in creating an elaborate pseudo-democratic facade? Drawing on numerous interviews and field research in an Islamic republic wracked by ethnic tensions, terrorism, dire poverty, and the living legacy of slavery, Noel Foster addresses these questions to reveal the complex forces at work in Mauritania’s long struggle for better governance.

Contents:

""Book Title""; ""Table of Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""1-Introduction""; ""Notes""; ""2-The Making of Modern Mauritania""; ""Ethnic Diversity""; ""The Moors""; ""Women in Mauritanian Society""; ""A Unique Islamic Republic""; ""Social Dynamics""; ""Race, Slavery and the Haratines""; ""Colonial Rule""; ""Paths of Accommodation""; ""Independence""; ""Ethnicity, Modernity and its Discontents""; ""Mauritania�s First Grassroots Political Movement""; ""Drought and Social Transformation""; ""The Saharan Quagmire""; ""The Advent of Military Rule""; ""The CMSN""; ""The Advent of Taya""

""The Institutionalization of Corruption""""Economic Crisis""; ""The “Events� of 1989""; ""Blood and Soil""; ""Choosing Saddam""; ""A Feint Towards Democracy""; ""Tapping Tribalism""; ""Rigging Elections""; ""The Decline of the PRDS System""; ""Notes""; ""3-The Army Breaks Ranks""; ""The Purges""; ""Ideology in Mauritania and its Discontents""; ""Flawed Elections""; ""The Trial""; ""The Beginning of the End""; ""The Attack on Lemreighty""; ""The Impasse""; ""Dysfunctional Civil-Military Relations""; ""Motivations Behind the Perpetual Coup Plot""

""Corruption and Discontent Within the Ranks""""The Military�s Predicament""; ""Notes""; ""4-A Coup for Democracy?""; ""Great Expectations and Inescapable Commitments""; ""Transatlantic Dissonance and Democracy Promotion""; ""External Pressure, Changing Norms""; ""Looking East""; ""Dependency Begetting Democracy?""; ""Shifting Sands and Controlled Change""; ""The Shoguns of August""; ""Structural Factors""; ""Cutting the Gordian Knot""; ""Whither the Democratizing Coup""; ""Notes""; ""5-Mauritania�s Prague Spring""; ""Defying Explanation""; ""Days of Dialogue""; ""Great Expectations""

""Freedom of Expression""""Vestiges of Authoritarianism""; ""Torture and the Radicalizing State""; ""Illusions of Progress?""; ""Democracy or Neopatrimonialism with a Democratic Face?""; ""Troubling Conclusions""; ""Notes""; ""6-The Puppet Presidential Candidate""; ""Subverting the Transition""; ""Undue Influence""; ""Electoral reforms""; ""The First Round of Elections""; ""A Junta Divided""; ""Fixed Outcomes""; ""Mixed Conclusions""; ""The Final Verdict""; ""The Tyranny of Low Expectations""; ""Notes""; ""7-The Gathering Storm""; ""The Jihadist Threat""; ""Islamism in Mauritania""

""Abortive Reforms""""Forging Reconciliation""; ""Empty Stomachs""; ""Congenital Flaws""; ""Disillusionment""; ""Rebuilding the Ruling Party""; ""Corruption""; ""From Bureaucrats to Plutocrats""; ""Opposing Abdallahi""; ""Notes""; ""8-All the General�s Men""; ""Condemnation and Collaboration""; ""The Prisoners� Dilemma""; ""The Diplomatic Circus""; ""Consolidating Power""; ""Blind Man�s Bluff""; ""The Sincerest Form of Flattery""; ""Corporate Interests""; ""The Democratic Regression""; ""Insatiability""; ""The Men Without Qualities""; ""Notes""; ""9-Battling Military Rule""

""The Battle for Legitimacy""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-62637-114-8

OCLC:

1334344115