September 28, 2004

• More on the rebels here
• An interview with the Rebel Leader
• Y'know, the nice thing about African colonialism was there was never really any doubt about who was in charge. Now, it's willy-nilly all over that place. And we're upset because gas costs $1.96/gallon.
• The nice thing about playing Devil's Advocate is that you're never responsible for the things you say.
• I've always wondered about the connection between colonialism and dictatorships. My knowledge is limited, but it seems that in places like sub-Saharan Africa colonialism came in, messed up all the local polities (which weren't necessarily nice, but not exactly 20th cen dictatorships either) - not just existing kingdoms, chiefdoms, etc, but also local politics, much messing about with agriculture, the local environment (usually with disaterous effects). Then they were pushed out/pulled out this century, leaving behind polictial and economic messes. But I don't really understand all the mechanisms - are the worst situations in places like Zimbabwe which fought brutal civil wars for majority rule? Is it poverty and economic disruption that has lead to wars and strong men? What are the post-colonial success stories - and what did they have that allowed them to succeed (or atleast, to come out better off)? India has had problems - including on going conflict with Pakistan - but relatively it seems to have come out of the colonial period in much better condition. Was it the way independance was acheived? Or was it that there was less disruption (esp social and economic) during the Raj in India than under the regimes of Africa? Is the location of very valuable natural resources surrounded by areas so poor and relatively powerless in world politics (and thus their subsequent relationship with international corporations interested in those resources) a flashpoint for disruption and conflict? Are there too many factors to understand this? of course, all these questions are probably imposssible to answer - though any stabs at them would be very interesting, esp from people who know more about Africa or colonialism than I do.
• What are the post-colonial success stories - and what did they have that allowed them to succeed (or atleast, to come out better off)? In Africa there aren't very many. Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Tunisia are the only two that jump out at me, although they all still have their problems and had a history of dictatorships.
• Only ones, not only two.
• Are there too many factors to understand this? It differs from country to country. In Rwanda for instance, the problem was that the colonials caused a rift between the two major ethnic groups that lasted long after they left. In Congo, it's a resource war, where various countries want control over them. In Sudan, you have a civil war over political issues, oil revenue, and ethnic problems. Add to all of these issues the extremely low cost of munitions in these countries (I remember reading that in Rwanda, that it was cheaper to buy a hand grenade then a hotel room), and you've got a situation that no one wants to get involved in. My knowledge is not as great on colonies outside of Africa, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are facing similar situations (like SE Asia, for instance).
• Maybe it just takes time. South America, with a colonial past, is largely democratic today, though in most places this is only true since the 1980s.