Former Liberian president speaks

Former Liberian president Amos Sawyer spoke Monday in the Moot Courtroom in the law school on United States foreign policy in West Africa. \nSawyer's speech, hosted by the Black Law Student Association and the International Law Society, focused on U.S. foreign policy both before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sawyer said that he welcomes the United States' new engagement to unite the planet. Sawyer said he thinks it a larger global village than first realized. He said he hopes to see a greater acceptance of other cultures. \n"I think it unfortunate that it took such an incident to put fresh thinking on the table," Sawyer said. \nSawyer also said he hopes that President George W. Bush's campaign against terrorism will lead to a more caring world government where regional unity is emphasized. He said that for the United States to end the campaign with a parade and return to the previous foreign policy would be a mistake. \nThere has to be a way to handle the Middle East situation while going forward with a plan for global unity, he said, citing that the influx of foreigners to the United States is caused by unbearable living conditions in other countries. \nThough Sawyer said he doesn't expect the U.S. foreign policy to include a massive world charity budget, he hopes to see a larger interest in United States and Liberian relations than before. \nDuring former President Bill Clinton's 1998 visit to West Africa, Sawyer remembers feeling that Clinton was uninterested in the country except to bring raw materials into the expanding world market. \n"I don't think there was much of a foreign policy before," Sawyer said. \nSawyer also spoke about the continuing war against terrorism. He said the concern needs to be less on terrorism and more on the government's that allow terrorists to thrive and hide. \nDuring a question-and-answer session, Sawyer emphasized that, while non-governmental organizations are operating at a grassroots level, they shouldn't be substitutes for people's own capacity. He says that sovereignty shouldn't rest in the strength of government, but that sovereignty should be re-examined to strengthen other people. In the future, he wants Africa's future to rest on the strength of the citizen's rather than the nation-state. \nSawyer led the country from 1990-1994 amid civil unrest. The civil disorder left Liberia's domestic economy unsettled. A civil war in 1989-96 destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia, the capitol. Many businessmen fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them, according to the CIA Factbook. \nLiberia, roughly the size of Tennessee, is on the West coast of Africa between Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.