...A fascinating and original insight into conflict...In a very engaging style and a rigorously thorough analysis, the author brings out the role external actors played in the conflict and he highlights weaknesses in project planning and design which need to be addressed in order to achieve thoroughness in project preparation. Students and teachers of rural development and of conflict resolution as well as development practitioners would gain significantly from reading this book...A very worthwhile reference guide and a must for specialists in rural development. -Derris Jenkins-Johnston, manager and chief country economist, (retired), African Development Bank. ... This book presents a comprehensive analysis of political, historical, geographical and technical factors that characterize a natural resource conflict such as this. ... a very useful reference guide for rural development specialists. -Dr. Eugene R. Terry, agricultural research and development specialist, senior technical adviser, TransFarm Africa, former director general, African Rice Center

Using the Moyen Bani Programme as an example, External Assistance or External Interference gives an analysis of a grassroots conflict which, not foreseen at project design, lasted six years in Mali. This book provides the historical, economic, and political backgrounds that influenced the design and the conflict resolution. Concepts of perception, emotion, and identity explain the frames of the actors in the conflict. Notions including static and dynamic frames are used to explain their positions at different times during the conflict resolution. It explores the need of protagonists in rural conflicts to increase the political and economic resources they possess to achieve their goals. This need brought the intervention into the conflict of an international NGO. The book examines the “whys” and “wherefores” of the intervention by the NGO. The effects of the conflict on the project results are examined. The book contributes to the development of paradigms for conflict resolution as well as for project planning and analysis.