Probing the international roots of Africa's civil and economic problems, this analysis offers a new way of thinking about Africa's development dilemmas and policy options for addressing them. The authors argue that weak states, aid dependence, and debt create disincentives for long-term economic growth and peace, and recommend a radical restructuring of Africa's relationship with the international system. Leonard is dean of international and area studies and professor of political science at the University of California- Berkeley. Straus is completing research on genocide in Rwanda at the University of California-Berkeley. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Foreign Affairs Leonard and Straus, of the University of California at Berkeley, synthesize much recent writing on African political economy into an intriguing big picture that both analyzes the past and prescribes for the future. Without denying the overgeneralizations involved, they hope to jolt the aid establishment toward fundamentally new perspectives. They offer strong evidence that Africa's past economic and political interactions with the international system have created a set of incentives that are deeply dysfunctional for economic development. Old patterns have fostered weak states, antidemocratic leadership, and widespread civil conflict. To break these patterns, the authors want to restructure the incentives produced by the current conjunction of debt, foreign aid, and technical assistance to economies that often depend on enclave production of exports. Their proposed cures are immediate debt cancellation and reductions in most forms of foreign aid for governments with demonstrable commitments to democracy and development, followed by a system of multilateral guarantees to protect these legitimate governments from armed threats by rebel groups (who sustain themselves through illegal means such as the capture of profit-making enclaves). An over-idealistic but thought-provoking contribution to development debates.

Leonard, David K., 1941-; Straus, Scott, 1970-

David K Léonard; Scott Straus

United States, United States of America

New ed., PS, 2003

January 2003

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[curator]associate-jye-afamasaga@archive.org[/curator][date]20190930142619[/date][state]approved[/state][comment]Fixed by Innodata[/comment]

This Thoughtful Discussion Probes The International Roots Of Africa's Civil Conflicts And Lackluster Economies. Analyzing An Unwitting System That Creates A Set Of Incentives Inimical To Development, The Authors Offer A New Way Of Thinking About Africa's Development Dilemmas And The Policy Options For Addressing Them. Weak States, Aid Dependence, Crushing Debt, And Enclave Economies, Argue The Authors, Create Disincentives For Long-term Economic Growth And Even Peace. The Nature Of Africa's Interaction With The International System Often Supports These Negative Features; Thus, The Remedy Must Come From A Radical Restructuring Of That Relationship. Africa's Stalled Development Heeds That Call By Presenting Specific And Innovative Prescriptions For Change That Are Sure To Stimulate A Much-needed Debate. -- Publisher Description. Contemporary African State : The Politics Of Distorted Incentives -- Debt And Aid : Righting The Incentives -- Technical Assistance : The Corrosion Of Unwitting Institutional Racism -- Causes Of Civil Conflict In Africa -- Civil Conflict And International Humanitarian Intervention -- Conclusion. David K. Leonard, Scott Straus. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 139-148) And Index.

xi, 159 pages ; 24 cm
This thoughtful discussion probes the international roots of Africa's civil conflicts and lackluster economies. Analyzing an unwitting system that creates a set of incentives inimical to development, the authors offer a new way of thinking about Africa's development dilemmas and the policy options for addressing them. Weak states, aid dependence, crushing debt, and enclave economies, argue the authors, create disincentives for long-term economic growth and even peace. The nature of Africa's interaction with the international system often supports these negative features; thus, the remedy must come from a radical restructuring of that relationship. Africa's Stalled Development heeds that call by presenting specific and innovative prescriptions for change that are sure to stimulate a much-needed debate. -- Publisher description
Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-148) and index
Contemporary African state : the politics of distorted incentives -- Debt and aid : righting the incentives -- Technical assistance : the corrosion of unwitting institutional racism -- Causes of civil conflict in Africa -- Civil conflict and international humanitarian intervention -- Conclusion

This discussion of Africa's stagnant economies and civil disorders examines the dysfunctional incentives under which the continent's political and economic elites typically operate and offers a new way of thinking about Africa's development dilemmas and the policy options for addressing them.

2023-06-28