Law Commons^™

Pro-Democratic Intervention In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt

Journal Publications

In the past twenty years the people of the African continent have experienced human suffering on a scale unparalleled in human history. For the past decade I have examined and documented the evolution of Africa's peacekeeping, peace enforcement, regional collective security, and conflict management landscape as well as Africa's contribution to international law, particularly as it relates to the jus ad bellum, "the law of the use of force". Although an abundance of scholarly work and official studies have examined the complexities of humanitarian intervention, only a select body of credible work has considered the phenomenon of pro-democratic intervention (PDI)--very …

Illegal Peace?: An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Power-Sharing With Warlords And Rebels In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt

Journal Publications

When warlords use violence to coerce democratically constituted governments to share power, does power-sharing simply become a euphemism for "guns for jobs"? Which legal rules, if any, govern peace agreements in internal conflicts? Specifically, which rules regulate power-sharing? Are the aims of peace, justice, and adherence to the rule of law attainable, let alone compatible, with coerced political transitions where warlords force democratically constituted or legitimate governments to share power?

This Article represents the first conscientious attempt to address these questions, present a conceptual framework for examining the legal and political efficacy of coercing democratically constituted governments into sharing power, …