JMU PROFESSOR PHAM TO MONITOR LIBERIAN NATIONAL ELECTION

From: Media Relations

September 29, 2005

HARRISONBURG, Va. — Dr. J. Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University, has been appointed an official U.S. delegate to monitor Liberia's national elections occurring Oct. 11.

The delegation of 50 Americans, headed by Ambassador Richard S. Williamson and former Assistant Secretary of State Constance Berry Newman, includes senior State Department and Congressional officials as well as representatives from the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the Carter Center.

Pham, the only academic in the group, will serve as its expert on the West African country and conduct briefings for the other delegates.

The delegation will monitor the pre-election environment, presidential and legislative polls and the vote counting.

A total of 762 candidates are running in the elections, including 22 candidates for the presidency, 22 for the vice presidency, 206 for 30 Senate seats and 512 for 64 seats in the House of Representatives.

After more than two decades of turmoil and civil war — and the loss of about 250,000 Liberians out of a population of about 3 million — a 2003 peace agreement, enforced by international peacekeepers, established a transitional government and paved the way for the Oct. 11 voting.

If carried out successfully and peacefully, Pham said, it will be the first free elections in the West African country's 150-year history.

"Just four decades ago, Liberia boasted the second-fastest rate of economic growth in the world; today the country is the paradigmatic collapsed state," said Pham, who served as a diplomatic mediator in Liberia and neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea for two years. "The only thing keeping the place going is the presence there of the largest United Nations mission in the world and nearly half a billion dollars per year in U.S. government aid.

"This election is an opportunity — perhaps the last one — for Liberians to take charge of their own destiny. Consequently, as someone who lived through some of the worst years of the civil conflict with the Liberian people and has continued to follow developments with interest, I am both honored and excited by the prospect of being part of this historic moment."

Pham is the author of numerous articles on Liberia — five in the last year alone — and a book, "Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State," which was critically acclaimed by leading international relations periodicals, including "Foreign Affairs," "American Foreign Policy Interests" and "Wilson Quarterly." He is also the author of another just-published book on West African conflicts, "Child Soldiers, Adult Interests: Global Dimensions of the Sierra Leonean Tragedy."

Pham joined the JMU faculty in 2004 to help establish the justice studies program in the new Center for Liberal and Applied Social Sciences. He is also an affiliate faculty of JMU's political science department and Africana Studies Program.

The Nelson Institute for Public Affairs was established in 1998 by JMU's fourth president, Dr. Ronald E. Carrier, to study political violence and terrorism. While terrorism and national security remain as interests, the institute has grown to include other related global areas, and this year "international" was added to its name to reflect its broader scope. The institute is named for Dr. William R. Nelson, a former provost and vice president for academic affairs and political science department head, who was responsible for JMU's first course on terrorism.

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