The United States has many symbols. Though most of them did not originate in the country, they have become the country’s brand name in the perception of the general public. The history of the Marine Corps dates back to the ancient world, but modern formations of this type originated in the early 17th century, when the Netherlands, France and England began to compete for rule of the oceans. Marines are not only associated with the formation as such, but generally symbolize the American soldier, in particular one who serves outside the country, often as an instrument of Washington’s intervention. According to the traditional understanding, Marines were organized in units which were present on every battleship. On the one hand, the soldiers were on guard to ensure the crew’s discipline, while on the other they participated in onshore raids in small‑scale operations. Until the Spanish‑American War in 1898, the Marine Corps was a small battle unit, constantly threatened with being liquidated or absorbed by the army or the fleet. The outbreak of the war between the US and Spain changed the situation, giving way to a brilliant career for the Corps, which was not only saved but even developed by supporters of the idea of American expansionism who were then in power. Being stationed on board, they were always at hand, and thus became used to running small‑scale operations, chiefly of a police nature, mainly in Central American republics and the Caribbean. Marines were also popular heroes in the press for their participation in topical events of US foreign policy, which promoted the Corps among US citizens. Newspapers contained photographs of young men with glowing smiles, sporting khaki uniforms and wide‑brimmed hats, posing with weapons under a tropical sun. The fact that marines serve close to the President certainly contributes to their popularity. Marines of the HMX‑1 helicopter squadron have the honor and responsibility of providing short‑range air lift for the President of the United States. The orchestra that plays during official ceremonies at the White House is also part of the Corps. Marines continue to be an instrument of US intervention, and are employed to serve US foreign policy when the situation so requires. The US Marine Corps is one of the most recognizable combat forces worldwide, a flagship of the US armed force. Their popularity manifests itself also in the fact that they are frequent heroes of press releases, books and films.
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Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world and has occupied the top place in all possible rankings of failed states, instability, poverty, corruption etc. for many years. However, although the CAR has experienced almost constant instability for the last few decades it was only in recent years that it has received the media attention which was unseen before. Such an unusual interest has resulted from two successive internal conflicts: first, in 2012 the anti‑ government rebellion drawing together the alliance of rebel militia factions, the Séléka, and a year later the insurrection of the opposing Anti‑Balaka forces. The article is an attempt to analyse the causes of the instability of the CAR and the current political and security situation in the country, taking into account, among other things, the results of the fieldwork conducted by the author in the Central African Republic, as well as his long‑time research on the phenomenon of dysfunctional states.
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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 long-term research on dysfunctional states in Sub-Saharan Africa, based, inter alia, on the fieldwork conducted in more than twenty African states.
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. In the reality of Sub-Saharan Africa we can divide the countries engulfed by a serious state dysfunctionality those which were already dysfunctional at the moment of their creation and those that in the period of gaining independence in the sixties of the 20th century were on the right track to build an efficient state. The first group includes: Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. The second consists of the countries which, as for the conditions of the Sub-Saharan Africa, coped quite well at the beginning of an independent statehood, and the infrastructure and administration left by the colonizers were in a relatively good shape. In this group we can place: Kenya and Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, among dysfunctional states the majority are ones which never step off this dysfunctionality. These are the countries in which bad governance is not only a bad president or a team of ministers, but also the entire state machinery – a corrupted, inefficient, and unprepared to act multitude of lower officials, as well the lack of the society’s thinking in the categories of state (which is not surprising in the society with tribal and clannish nature).
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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.