Defeating Dictators
Fighting Tyranny in Africa and Around the World
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Despite billions of dollars of aid and the best efforts of the international community to improve economies and bolster democracy across Africa, violent dictatorships persist. As a result, millions have died, economies are in shambles, and whole states are on the brink of collapse. Political observers and policymakers are starting to believe that economic aid is not the key to saving Africa. So what does the continent need to do to throw off the shackles of militant rule? African policy expert George Ayittey argues that before Africa can prosper, she must be free. Taking a hard look at the fight against dictatorships around the world, from Ukraine's orange revolution in 2004 to Iran's Green Revolution last year, he examines what strategies worked in the struggle to establish democracy through revolution. Ayittey also offers strategies for the West to help Africa in her quest for freedom, including smarter sanctions and establishing fellowships for African students.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The only good dictator is a dead one," argues this hard-nosed, outspoken pro-democracy manifesto and how-to manual. Economist Ayittey (Africa Unchained) surveys current and former dictatorships, aka "vampire states," from his native Ghana, where he helped lead a successful movement against the despot Jerry Rawlings, to Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus, and the tottering tyrannies of the Arab world. Ayittey mixes right-leaning socioeconomics he champions capitalism against socialist development schemes with a bullet-pointed primer for activists, one that's full of practical insights on the need for unity among opposition groups, the centrality of independent radio stations and other "free media," the potency of civil service strikes against military rulers, and the usefulness of motor oil for toppling antidemocracy thugs from their scooters. Ayittey's unorthodox political theories he favors traditional modes of "consensus" decision making over Western-style multiparty majority votes, and insists that political reform must precede economic liberalization will be as controversial as his one-size-fits-all conception of dictatorship, lumping together countries as dissimilar as China and Ethiopia, which can seem simplistic. Still, his forthright language, lucid analyses, and pragmatic attitude make this a compelling and timely challenge to the despotism-as-usual status quo.
