Robert I. Rotberg
Capsule Review
Nov/Dec
2009
China's evolving relationship with Africa has generated a great deal of hyperbole. This collection of essays separates the facts from the myths.
Comment
Jul/Aug
2004
Poor leadership has been the depressing norm in Africa for decades. But as a bold new initiative by a group of past and present African leaders takes off, good governance may finally come to the continent.
Essay
Jul/Aug
2002
State failure is not new, but recently it has become more dangerous than ever. Weak states threaten not only themselves but also their neighbors and even global security. Preventing state failure is thus a strategic and moral imperative. If nation building is done on the cheap, the war against terror will be lost.
Essay
Sep/Oct
2000
Venal leaders are the curse of Africa, and Robert Mugabe is a walking reminder of how much damage they can do. No mere thug like Idi Amin, the gifted Mugabe created modern Zimbabwe and then robbed it of its enormous potential. The comparatively well-run, well-off country that he inherited is now a corruption-riddled, autocratic mess sent into economic free fall by its kleptomaniacal president's whims -- including tampering with elections, sending troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and hiring goons to invade white-owned farms. An indulgent world contributed to Mugabe's sense of invincibility. Instead, he and his ilk should be ostracized.
Capsule Review
May/Jun
1996
Essay
Fall
1988
Seeks to explain the failure of democracy in Haiti after Duvalier by reference to economic and historical factors. Haiti is a (1) "rural fastness" suffering from land erosion, lack of natural resources and a 90% illiteracy rate (2) a country which, since its revolution at the end of the 18th century, has been far more often ruled than governed. "The case for helping Haiti is overwhelming ... but exactly how and when to help are still open questions".
