User:JSCC3412/Choose an Article

Article Selection

Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

Mauritania-Senegal Border War

Article Evaluation

This article is marked as having "multiple issues", such as containing original research and having too few sources for verification. After reviewing the Talk Page of this article, it appears that at least two Wikipedia users gave critical assessments of the page and were active in finding possible solutions to the issues mentioned above, however these comments date back to 2013. It appears that mostly minor edits have been made since. One of the only major changes made to the English version of this page since 2013 was to translate and add information from the French version, which was slightly more robust and contained slightly better sources.

As the page currently stands, the lead paragraph gives a concise and accurate description of the event, describing the background, the conflict itself, and the aftermath. The three body sections of the article use the same format: Background, Conflict, Aftermath. There are no other sections. The Background section briefly describes the ethnic tensions and border dispute that led to this conflict. While the Background section does cover the main points, I believe it can be expanded upon, given the complex nature of ethnic tension between the citizens of these two countries. The Conflict section seems to be the most comprehensive section of this article. Because the war was relatively short, I believe this section only requires minor additions and clarifications. The Conflict section seems to be objective and fair. The Aftermath section likely needs the most attention. It makes very little mention of the international and non-governmental response to the conflict. Given that our course focuses on the politics of foreign intervention, this is likely where I will contribute most.

There are currently nine total references for this article. Most of the references are from American and French news outlets covering the situation at the time of the event. It also includes references to UN published information regarding refugees and the repatriation process. This article does not currently cite any academic material or African sources.

Sources

Nicolaj, Andrea. “THE SENEGAL MAURITANIAN CONFLICT.” Africa: Rivista Trimestrale Di Studi e Documentazione Dell’Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente 45, no. 3 (1990): 464–80. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40760541.

“Mauritania—Senegal: Ethnic Violence and Border Incidents April 1989–January 1990.” Regional Guide to International Conflict and Management from 1945 to 2003, 2004.

Option 2

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Option 3

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Option 4

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Option 5

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