Should the American-British war of 1812-1814 in North America be regarded as belonging to the napoleonic war?

According to the author, the American-British war of 1812 is a constituent part of the Napoleonic wars as it was closely associated with the political situation on the Old Continent, where Napoleon had been embroiled in armed conflicts. It was difficulties associated with the continental blockade, introduced by Napoleon as well as the British counter-blockade that lay at the root of the conflict between Washington and London; the difficulties were particularly harmful to the American trade. It is no coincidence that the American troops marched into Canada at the same time (June 1812) as the Napoleonic army marched into Russia. This chapter in history is not particularly popular in the United States which is due, among others, to the fact that the conflict ended as a matter of fact in a status quo. The peace talks conducted in Ghent remained in the shadow of the negotiations taking place at the Congress of Vienna whereas an interest of the European diplomacy, including the British one, in ending the conflict, was of secondary significance compared to the topicality of European issues

Military forces and police in dysfunctional states of Sub-Saharan Africa

Armed forces and police in dysfunctional states of Sub-Saharan Africa are usually weak, both in terms of training, discipline, equipment and morale. The army is frequently dragged into political conflicts, especially as there is a rule that who controls armed forces has power, and the loss of control of the army is tantamount to the loss of power. A similar problem concerns the police, which is even more corrupt and dependent on political influence. The police is often more preoccupied with supporting the ruling party than with protection of the public order, and citizens associate it with forcing various types of bribes. The analysis of the relation between the weak statehood challenges and the condition of the armed forces and police presented in the article is a result of the author's longterm research on dysfunctional states in Sub-Saharan Africa, based, inter alia, on the fieldwork conducted in more than twenty African states

The problem of bad governance as a determinant of state dysfunctionality in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bad governance can very quickly ruin the economic situation of the whole country. However, in the conditions of the Western world, even though they can cause a lot of damage, more or less developed administrative apparatus is able to minimize the effects of bad decisions, and the society has a chance to rebuff the rulers in the next elections. In so-called dysfunctional states bad governance can damage an already weak country's economy. Most researchers dealing with the issue of the state in Sub-Saharan Africa believe that, once the decolonisation was over, the power in the region was mostly taken by people whose leadership must be evaluated negatively, represented by such dictators as Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko or Idi Amin. The paper is trying to explain the interconnection between bad governance experienced by Sub-Saharan African countries and state dysfunctionality phenomenon from which they suffer. The author formulated the analysis and assessment of bad governance presented in this article on the basis of his own field studies carried out in African countries and research of specialist literature related to African and political studies

Policies of the Maghreb countries toward Western Sahara : Mauritania's perspective

Mauritania is the country considered closest historically and culturally to the inhabitants of Western Sahara. It also has the longest border with the territory of Western Sahara. This country's legal status is defined in Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations, which indicates that it is a non-self-governing territory going through the process of decolonization. The border between Mauritania and Western Sahara is 1564 km in length, which constitutes 75% of all the land borders of Western Sahara. The area that Mauritania borders with is completely controlled by the self-proclaimed Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, which constitutes about 20% of the territory of Western Sahara. The remaining 80% of the territory is occupied and administered by neighbouring Morocco. The problem of Western Sahara, which has caused great divisions between Morocco and Algeria since the mid-1970s, is that POLISARIO's main supporter has also constituted a serious issue for Mauritanian foreign politics. Within this dispute, Mauritania is in quite a difficult position as it attempts to not become conflicted with either of its powerful neighbours, both of which are aspiring to be leaders in the region. At a press conference in November 2019, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritania, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, issued a statement indicating that Mauritania does not intend to remain just an observer any longer, but rather plans to become an active participant in addressing the Western Sahara issue to finally resolve the 46-year conflict. This conflict casts a shadow on the regional cooperation within the framework of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), which - if it actually functioned - could aid in the economic development of the region, especially important for the politically and economically weak Mauritania. This has become even more important in the most recent period with the global economy experiencing turbulence following the two-year COVID-19 epidemic and the current war in Ukraine

Satyagraha and South Africa : part I : the origins of the relationship between the "idea" and the "place" in Mahatma Gandhi's writings

The article presents the results of research carried out mainly on Mahatma Gandhi’s written statements which the authors refer to both a historical and socio-political background. It is the first part of the planned two-part study on mutual relations between Mahatma Gandhi’s "satyagraha" and South Africa, therefore it is focused on the interdependencies between the origin of the idea and the place where it was invented. The authors seek to answer two main questions: 1) whether Gandhi has entered into a dialogue with the native people of South Africa, and 2) whether Gandhi’s idea of non-violent fighting for social rights included the native population of South Africa. The study also presents an outline of the evolution of Gandhi’s attitudes towards Africans and the Coloured People