2. Topic
Angola
Thesis: The turmoil between the political movements of the (MLPA) and
(UNITA) lead to the collapse of Angola based Diamond’s factor of Hostile
Neighbor as their inability to reach an agreement led to a Civil War and the
regression and collapse of the society
3. Overview of the Country
Very large country
2 times the size of France
Located in Southern Africa
Tropical Zone
High rain fall and high temperatures
Economy
Rich in Oil and Diamonds
Fastest-growing African country
Social inequality and high poverty rates
4. Overview of Country
Government
3 branches and a President along with a Vice-President
220-seat legislature
System loosely based on Portuguese law and customs
(MLPA) controls majority of votes and is the strongest party
Culture
Strong Portuguese influence
Portuguese main language along with English and French
Big on dance and music
Many communities have their own traditions and traits
5. Collapse
Turmoil following independence from Portugal in 1975
Movement for Liberation of Angola (MLPA) vs National Union for Total Independence
of Angola (UNITA) (Vines, 2016).
Both parties helped gain independence from Portugal
Different military and political ideologies following independence
Civil War
Chaos between movements led to civil war
Thousands of innocent people killed
War lasted over 20+ years (Vines, 2016)
6. Collapse
Civil War
South African Defense Units and Cuban troops were in Angola already following
independence war (Vines, 2016)
Caused fighting in the country which lead to more deaths of people
Corruption in the government has country was struggling internally
Economy was weak: inflation was high for currency
No sound structure in the government
People and communities upset over lack of leadership and direction (Prata, 2001).
7. Diamond’s Hostile Neighbors
Factor played large role for Civil War and collapse of Angola
Chronic relations between two neighbors or societies
Leads to disagreement and break down of relationship (Diamond, 2011)
One is unable to hold off the other
Society is attacked by forceful means or politically depending of the time of
the era (Diamond, 2011)
Society is weakened by attacks
Environment negatively effected as well
Failure of government
8. Hostile Neighbors
Country was unable to sustain itself or be stable as differences between two
biggest parties emerged following gained independence
Factor focuses on neighbors being hostile with attacks of military and political
in mind (Diamond, 2011).
Angola was it’s own hostile neighbor as UNITA and MLPA were unable to agree
on political views which turned in to civil war
Stability is necessary after gaining independence: Angola failed and would
face the consequences for years to come
Did not help that South African And Cuban forces began to disagree on
military terms and make civil war worse
9. Hostile Neighbors
Civil war would set back Angola years and it wouldn’t be until the late 2000’s
that they saw progression
Civil War lasted over 20 years which negatively impacted the economy and
the government
Impeded growth of the country
Incompetence and inability to reach an agreement led to turmoil between
MLPA and UNITA which would pin Angola battling itself
Inability to have sound government caused high turnover rate which did not
allow for long term plans to be out in place and played out
10. Consequences
Civil War would impacted the future of Angola
As we learned this past unit, children were often taken and used of child
soldier; Angola was no different
Children had to fight and survive on their own which caused physical and
psychological damage
Future generation would face same issue; Violent cycle would repeat
With Civil War constantly going on, peace was impossible to find
Delayed economic and social growth
Inability to establish social projects with war going on
11. Consequences
Humans rights were the biggest impact
Innocent people constantly killed during more; Soldiers often stole from the innocent
and abused or raped women (Thaler, 2012)
Demand for removal of President Dos Santos
Has done nothing to help situations as MPLA has been in control politically since 1975
High poverty/mortality rate
Due to on going war, medicine and clinics were difficult to establish for the common
person; has led to poor health from poor sanitation (Thaler, 2012).
Many death could be preventable but during the civil war it was difficult to make a
standard medical and health process
12. Consequences
Unable to grow economically during Civil War, Angola has solely relied on
crude Oil for stimulate their economy (Vines, 2016).
Crude oil will eventually run out and Angola could be left with an economic
depression
Needs to diversity their economy to avoid issue
Today, Angola has grown and improved since the days of the Civil War but one
can wonder how far they would be if it had not happened
Growth began after the U.S. began to send support in ways of military and
medical help for Angolan communities
Government has more structure but peoples loss of faith in Dos Santos still an
issue (Prata, 2001).
13. Easter Island vs Angola
Easter Island people faced issue of degrading and using the natural resources
of the environment, especially the trees which was a form of deforestation
(Diamond, 2011).
This caused the eco-environment to change and animals to attempt to adapt
to a new setting which set amiss the whole region
With animals unable to adapt they left and this cause food sources to be scarce
among the people
This led to starvation and with out proper land to grow food it led to the death and
collapse of the people
Diamond’s factor of degradation of an environment plays a role as the
deforestation in Easter Island lead to other issues which snowballed and cause
the collapse of their society (Diamond, 2011)
14. Easter Island vs Angola
Angola was different as it fits with the hostile environment
They are similar as one event or situation snowballed and led to the demise of
the society
For Easter Island it was the degradation of the environment and for Angola is
was the battle between the two main parties and the Civil War as well
Both had factors of instability that led to demise and collapse of society
More different than similar as their main factor were two different factors
from Diamond’s theory
15. Conclusion
Diamond’s factor of Hostile Neighbor does support the collapse of Angola
during the civil war
Angola were their own hostile neighbor and kept themselves from being to grow
and advance as a society and nation
South Africa and Cuba could also be considered hostile neighbors as they did play a
negative role in Civil war
Angola’s battle between their own two parties led to collapse as it have major
future implications
Skills from course focused on research and critical thinking
I learned to do proper research on each topic
Be able to interpret and understand both sides of an argument
16. Conclusion
Skills
The skills learned in this course will help when having to make judgment calls as I
learned to research a topic before forming an absolute opinion
Not everything always seems as it is; Kony was a great example of this as not many
people knew about the treatment of the Ugandan government towards their own
people
17. References
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ao.html
VINES, A. (2016). Continuity and change in Angola: insights from modern
history. International Affairs, 92(5), 1229-1237. doi:10.1111/1468-2346.12709
Prata, N. (2001). War and Reproduction: Angola's Fertility in Comparative
Perspective. Journal Of Southern African Studies, 27(2), 329-347.
doi:10.1080/03057070120050000
Diamond, Jared. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New
York, Penguin Books, 2011.
THALER, K. M. (2012). Ideology and Violence in Civil Wars: Theory and
Evidence from Mozambique and Angola. Civil Wars, 14(4), 546-567.
