Ebrima, congrats on your accomplishment and I look forward to reading your 
thoughts about the state of our nation.

Chi Jaama

Joe


>From: "Ebrima Ceesay" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [>-<] A MUST-READ BOOK ON GAMBIAN POLITICS PUBLISHED
>Date: Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:27:25 +0000
>
>[ This e-mail is posted to Gambia|Post e-Gathering by "Ebrima Ceesay"  ]
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>Dear readers,
>
>
>
>With only a few days to go before the next Presidential Election in The 
>Gambia, I am very pleased to announce that I have written a book on Gambian 
>Politics under Yahya Jammeh and it can now be purchased online.
>
>
>
>Published in Canada by Trafford Publishing, the book is titled: The 
>Military and 'Democratisation' in The Gambia: 1994-2003. It has ten 
>fascinating chapters and 345 pages. The size of the book is 6 inches x 9 
>inches and it is available in both trade paperback (softcover)  and 
>hardcover. Take note of the fact that the hardcover is more expensive than 
>the paperback(softcover). The book’s ISBN number is: 1-4251-0103-8.
>
>
>
>The book is available for sale online and it can be ordered online at 
>www.trafford.com/06-1860
>
>Excerpts from the book can be seen/read on my webpage.
>
>
>
>Alternatively, you can ring Trafford UK or Trafford Canada and order the 
>book over the phone. These are the contact addresses of Trafford UK and 
>Trafford Canada:
>
>
>
>Trafford Publishing
>
>2333 Government Street
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>Suite 6E
>
>Victoria, British Columbia
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>Canada, V8T 4P4
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>Tel: 250 383 6864
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>Toll Free: 1-888-232-4444 (from Canada and USA)
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>Fax: 250 383 6814
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>Or
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>Trafford Publishing (UK) Ltd.
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>9 Park End Street, 2nd Floor
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>Oxford, OX1 1HH
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>United Kingdom
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>Tel: 01865 722 113 or 0845 230 9601
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>Fax: 01865 722 868
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>
>
>This is a very thought provoking book on a very important subject/topic. In 
>fact, it is the most comprehensive book ever written on the military and 
>the democratisation process in The Gambia. It’s very well-written and there 
>is, of course, a clear link between the theory and the very solid empirical 
>evidence. Needless to mention, the theoretical framework is very clearly 
>presented. This timely and incisive book provides an original and detailed 
>analysis of the root causes of the 1994 coup d’etat in The Gambia, the 
>motivations behind the juniors officers who seized power, as well as 
>critically examines post-coup politics in The Gambia from 1996 to 2003.
>
>
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>In other words, the book offers lucid, original, important and critical 
>insights into our understanding of contemporary Gambian politics. Anyone 
>who wishes to understand Gambian Politics under Yahya Jammeh is advised to 
>buy this book. The study is also a valuable addition to the literature on 
>the military and the democratisation process in Africa.
>
>My book will be a vital text for any student of African Politics who wishes 
>to study Gambian Politics. It will be an essential guide for academic 
>researchers, students, politicians, journalists and policy makers who wish 
>to understand the nature and scope of the most recent political changes 
>that occurred in The Gambia, in the wake of the 1994 coup d’etat.
>
>
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>In a similar development, be informed that another important book on 
>Gambian Politics/History will be released on 27th October 2006. The book is 
>titled "A Political History of The Gambia, 1816-1994"and is written by 
>Professor Arnold Hughes and Dr David Perfect, both Gambianists or 
>experts/specialists in Gambian Affairs. Professor Arnold Hughes is former 
>Director and Emeritus Professor of African Politics, Centre of West African 
>Studies, University of Birmingham, UK. This 560-page book can also be 
>ordered online at www.boydell.co.uk/80462308.HTM
>
>
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>Anyone interested in the political history of The Gambia will find this 
>book an important source of insight. The book should be core reading for 
>anyone with an interest in Gambian Politics/History. It contains insightful 
>and well-articulated analyses of pre- and post independence politics in The 
>Gambia.
>
>
>
>Meanwhile, for more about my book, you can read the write-up below, culled 
>from the webpage created by Trafford Publishing for my book.
>
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Ebrima Ceesay
>
>
>
> 
>
>ABOUT THE BOOK:   The Military and ‘Democratisation’ in The Gambia: 
>1994-2003
>
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> 
>
>This book - The Military and ‘Democratisation’ in The Gambia: 1994-2003 (By 
>Ebrima Ceesay) - provides an account of significant political developments 
>in a small West African country, The Gambia, about which such information 
>is not readily available. It is a robustly written account of the very 
>fluid politics of The Gambia over the last ten years since the coup that 
>ousted President Dawda Jawara. The author is able to bring an enviable 
>amount of first-hand understanding to the case at hand. He was a newspaper 
>editor in The Gambia and also a correspondent there for the BBC. The book 
>addresses a subject of much current interest in the wider development and 
>policy-related literatures and much of the information makes an original 
>contribution to knowledge in the area of democracy and military rule in The 
>Gambia. The study thus constitutes an original contribution to
>the growing scholarship on The Gambia. It also makes a contribution to the 
>existing literature on democratisation and the military in West Africa.
>
>
>
>The book undertakes the much needed research into recent political 
>developments in The Gambia, and sets this in the wider context of West 
>African politics. It provides an in-depth study of events in The Gambia 
>prior to and post 1994 and examines The Gambian case in a theoretical 
>context pertaining to Africa in general, and the West African sub-region in 
>particular.
>
>
>
>The fundamental concern of this book is to determine whether it is possible 
>for a nation to democratise under 'military' rule. Following the 1994 coup 
>d’etat, The Gambia had military rule until 1997. After two Presidential 
>elections, it remained under 'quasi-military' rule, the military having 
>merely been thinly disguised in civilian clothes. The central argument of 
>this book is that in the case of The Gambia, it has not been possible to 
>democratise under either ‘military’ or ‘quasi-military’ rule. The country 
>is far from being democratic and the democratisation process has barely 
>begun. The Gambia operates under an authoritarian regime with strong 
>military overtones.
>
>
>
>The 1994 coup d’etat in The Gambia took place at a time when most of Africa 
>was moving towards democratisation. At the same time, The Gambia moved away 
>from democratisation and into military dictatorship. This Gambian 
>'exceptionalism' in recent regional, continental and global political 
>development is explained and analysed in the book. The study presents a 
>conceptual and empirical analysis of the recent 'democratisation' processes 
>under the military and military-turned civilian regimes in The Gambia. It 
>uses conceptual or analytical insights, drawn from the general literature 
>on military regimes in Africa, to inform understanding of the case study. 
>The book raises a number of very pertinent questions concerning the place 
>of the military in a modern African polity, and the varied contexts and 
>contested nature of this role.
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>
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>The book sets out to assess the military regime that seized power in The 
>Gambia in July 1994, and which remains in power to the present day - having 
>formally converted itself into an "elected" civilian regime through managed 
>elections from which the military leader emerged victorious.
>
>
>
>It is broadly concerned with four themes: a) pre-independence politics in 
>The Gambia, the Jawara years and the causes of his overthrow; b) the coup 
>d’etat that brought the military regime to power on 22 July 1994; c) the 
>subsequent conduct of the military regime, with particular concern for its 
>attempt to legitimise itself through elections; and d) the question of 
>whether The Gambia can be regarded as a democracy, to which the author has 
>returned a decided negative.
>
>
>
>Four main questions are posed. What were the causes of the military coup in 
>The Gambia? What were the various phases of military rule? How has the 
>military performed in office? Has The Gambia returned to a functioning 
>democratic state following the 1996 and 2001 elections? The findings 
>indicate that the military intervention was prompted by a combination of 
>political, economic and social problems in the country. The 1994 coup 
>d’etat in The Gambia is best seen as the outcome of two main variables: the 
>societal/economic/political factors which made military intervention a 
>possibility, set against the motivations of junior officers of the Gambia 
>National Army to intervene in the government of The Gambia because of their 
>own dissatisfactions and possible personal aspirations. Direct military 
>rule was in two phases and the military’s leadership performance was poor 
>in
>respect of human and civil rights in both phases, although there were some 
>modest gains in socio-economic terms. Despite the holding of elections, The 
>Gambia remains undemocratic.
>
>
>
>The study is based on newspaper reports, interviews and the author’s own 
>experiences as a journalist in The Gambia until his departure from the 
>country in 1996, together with published sources. The empirical element in 
>the book is accompanied by a survey of literature in the field, notably 
>relating to military regimes in general, and especially in Africa. The 
>treatment of empirical developments and academic sources in the book is 
>both descriptive and conceptual.
>
>
>
>The ten chapters (including a general conclusion) which make up the book 
>are logically structured; general aims and objectives, which are clearly 
>identified in the introductory chapter, are pursued in a sustained way in 
>the subsequent discussion. Early presentations of approach, objectives and 
>strategy combine with overviews of pre-1994 politics and economics in the 
>opening two chapters. Along with the summary of the circumstances 
>surrounding the military’s intervention in politics in 1994 (Chapter 3), 
>these serve as a prelude to the detailed evaluation of the military’s 
>performance in government; and the circumstances, processes and 
>consequences of the army’s transformation into a "democratic" civilian (in 
>reality a "quasi-military") regime, which constitutes the middle third, and 
>core, of the book.
>
>
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>The final third of the book focuses on the fortunes of both democracy and 
>politics under a quasi-military regime, and tries to draw lessons from this 
>experience for a serious consideration of the role of the military in 
>democratic politics. The penultimate chapter offers recommendations for 
>deterring future coups in The Gambia and elsewhere in Africa, while a 
>general conclusion presents a cogent summary of the principal findings and 
>conclusions.
>
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> 
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