Политический кризис в Либерии 1979-2003 годов в воспоминаниях президента страны Эллен Джонсон-Сирлиф

Abstract

The article describes political crises and the civil war in Liberia provided in the autobiography of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, first female President in this African country, in the period between the late 1960’s till her assent into power in 2006. Over this period Johnson-Sirleaf occupied high positions in various governments and had closely encountered with all Liberian Presidents starting with William Tolbert as well as the leaders of opposition and key figures of the civil war (1989 - 2003). Despite author’s biases and attempts to present the described material in the manner most favorable to herself, the memoire contains a large quantity of confidential information regarding the political processes and can serve as an important source covering Liberian civil war and the preceding political crisis. Significant attention is paid to ethnic tensions caused by socio-economic and political privileges of Americo-Liberians with respects to the indigenous population of Liberia. Another set of problems is tied to the features of the economic model that emerged in the country, primarily based on raw material exports and the use of cheap indigenous labor force. The information disclosed by Johnson-Sirleaf allows one to attain a more complete understanding of how the successive heads of state and leaders of opposition movements were looking for solutions to the crisis that loomed for decades and how they all failed at this task. In general, this autobiography is a very substantive source shedding light not only onto the situation in Liberia but also onto the key political processes in West Africa at the turn of the 21st century.