Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book provides a brief historical and sociopolitical background of Mauritania. It addresses the issue of African leadership, the impact of democratization, ethnicity, and other conceptual and methodological aspects of the study. The book focuses on the personal and social backgrounds, and attributes of the colonels. It also provides relevant information on their evolution as men and officers, and on the factors, influences, and dynamics that contributed to making them who they are, and on their itineraries and careers as officers in the Mauritanian military. The book compares and contrasts the colonels' respective approaches to, management of, and performance on, the most critical challenge Mauritania has faced throughout its existence as an independent nation, and singularly since the colonels have been in charge of its destiny.