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The history of these African nations has always been, and will forever be, rule by a strongman. Better that they are aligned with the West, than China.
by Reichhardt 5y ago
The history of these African nations has always been, and will forever be, rule by a strongman. Better that they are aligned with the West, than China.
- uoaei 5y agoEssentialism is a bit of a faux pas nowadays, FYI.
- jwmhjwmh 5y agoI believe Burkina Faso did very well under Thomas Sankara, whether or not you want to call him a "strongman". He definitely was not aligned with the West. In fact, he had close relations with Cuba.
- jessaustin 5y agoIncidentally, Sankara met Blaise Compaoré, who orchestrated both the coup that brought Sankara to power and the one that murdered him, at a foreign military training facility. I can't help thinking that voting is a better way to select leaders. It's too bad we haven't invested in some sort of training in democracy.
- jwmhjwmh 5y agoThere were two other coups in the years leading up to Sankara's taking power, so I wouldn't say that the country was exactly in a stable state. I don't think the problem is the lack of training in democracy. I think the problem is the powerful forces opposed to democracy. When he assassinated Sankara, Blaise Compaoré represented the interests of imperialists.
- salt-thrower 5y agoCorrection: the history of the global south has long been, and will continue to be, instability and exploitation at the hands of the global north. Colonialism never ended.