

What is the true price of Rwanda's recovery? - gruseom
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8593734.stm

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selflessGene
I am a part owner of a business in West Africa, and I'll say that I'm an
enthusiastic supporter of Kagame's leadership and hope to see similar leaders
rise in Africa.

The West and this documentary makes the erroneous assumption that full
democracy and unfettered freedom of speech are axiomatic components of a
society. Not so. I see these as goals to aspire to, not starting points.

Singapore's rise from one of the poorest countries in Asia to now being
wealthier than Britain on a per capita basis was not founded in full
democracy. Even Europe had to go through a long evolution from the autocratic
Roman Empire, to monarchies, to feudalism, aristocracies, and eventually
democracy trickled in.

If what Kagame is doing is working, then let it work for his people, The
country is now peaceful and has an inviting and reponsible environment for
private enterprise to play a role in developing the country. The west needs to
stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

~~~
heresy
I cannot agree with you more.

Rule of law and stable government are necessary to create an environment in
which the economy can develop and circumstances for the people improve.

Democracy in an ethnically heterogeneous country does not make this easier,
not when the ethnicities in question have simmering feuds and vendettas.

That the US became somewhat ethnically diverse after a stable core was
established does not change the fact that African countries have a
substantially more difficult task ahead of them in trying to establish
governmental and legal frameworks in the midst of competing tribalist agendas.

So, if it works for Rwanda, leave well enough alone.

Results are what matter in Africa right now, not whether a country complies
100% with a Western definition of democracy while citizens are starving in
droves.

The first human right is the right to life, and at least some form of
security. Free speech comes significantly later.

Democracies in the West work (somewhat) because of shared values established
over centuries. Policies of one particular political party compared to another
are differences in degree, the parties do not question the underlying
foundations of the nation, and one party getting voted into power is hardly
the beginning of a purge or dictatorship.

You cannot expect a full-fledged, functioning democracy to grow overnight when
not a decade ago people were being killed in their thousands.

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pasbesoin
Interestingly, I just met a well-educated Rwandan expat yesterday evening.
Expat out of necessity as much or more so than choice. He's sure that if he
returned, he would be killed.

I don't have other sources to back this up, but he described the continuing
situation of very large numbers of refugees living, often "in the forests", in
neighboring countries. As the violence subsided, other populations from
neighboring countries flowed in to take advantage of the resulting vacancy,
and they now control the government. There is a strong Western (e.g. U.S.)
presence, but in his opinion it is there for the purpose of facilitating
resource extraction from neighboring countries, e.g. the Congo.

I hope to learn more about this; I'm merely repeating here what was said. He
may have his own biases, but I know him through friends whom I know pretty
well and trust, and what he said leaves me with the impression that Western
news sources are providing much less than the full story.

~~~
pasbesoin
Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ et al.) has a daily hour-long world news show,
"Worldview". It specialized in interviewing experts and specialists on topics
both big and small. The listener receives MUCH more information, both in
detail and in expertise, than is available through much of the (U.S.)
mainstream media.

Today, the second "half" (more or less) of the show discussed the situation in
Rwanda. Much of the information appears to be similar to what I heard the
other month and described in my parent comment, above.

Worldview archive page for the program:

<http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=41595>

Worldview page for the particular segment:

<http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV_Segment.aspx?segmentID=41596>

Worldview podcast page (note that MP3's that have fallen off the podcast
listing due to age are still available through the site's archive pages)

<http://podcasts.chicagopublicradio.org/cprworldviewpodcast>

I wasn't monitoring the clock exactly, but I think the segment will begin
somewhere between minutes 20 and 25 of the podcast (probably around minute
23). If the podcast includes the lead in BBC news summary, add 6 or 7 minutes
to my guestimate start time for the segment.

