Dr. John Fobanjong

John Fobanjong

Professor of Political Science and African-American Studies UMASS Dartmouth

Professor Fobanjong's areas of academic expertise are in public administration and public policy, international relations, comparative politics and ethnic politics. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Dr. Fobanjong is author of the book Understanding the Backlash Against Affirmative Action (Nova Science Publishers), and he has published in a variety of academic journals. His latest article, “Articulating Cabral's Regionalist and Pan-Africanist Vision,” was published in the journal African Identities, and he recently authored a chapter entitled “The Quest for Public Relations in Africa: An Introduction” which appeared in the book Toward the Common Good: Perspectives in International Public Relations (Allyn & Bacon).

Social Scientists have discovered that after wars, defeated parties are able to eventually catch up with winners, with the social order returning to the status quo antebellum in a relatively short time usually 15 to 20 years. International relations scholars refer to this condition as the Phoenix factor, and it is a phenomenon that has so far been empirically proven in many an inter-state wars. In this paper, Fobanjong attempts to apply the concept to study postwar recovery in Liberia.