A review of The Mind of the African Strongman
Conversations with Dictators, Statesmen, and Father Figures, by Herman J.
Cohen, New Academia Publishers, Washington, D.C. 2015.
This is an interesting and chatty book. It is what it
purports to be: a series of anecdotes recounting contacts and conversations
with sixteen African leaders over a period of forty years. Ambassador Cohen spent many of those years in
Africa as a diplomat on the scene and more as the Assistant Secretary of State
for African Affairs at the Department of State in Washington. Even in his post
diplomatic career, Ambassador Cohen saw old contacts and made new ones.
The author puts each of the strongmen in context. He
provides background on the country in question and information on the
individual chief of state. The result is
a penetrating look at the foibles, personal concerns and motivations of African
leaders. Their individual personalities
come across vibrantly. Few, Mandela and
DeKlerk excepted, were altruistic.
Most - Moi, Barre, Mugabe,
Houphet - were crafty politicians who understood their home context exceedingly
well, but who were often adrift in the international arena. Others
- Doe, Taylor, Kabila - were just thugs who managed to grab power, but were
able to do little with it. Cohen’s unenviable task throughout was to convince
and cajole these men to do something positive; many times just for their own
people, but always also for the United States.
Cold war concerns frequently provided the point of departure for a conversation,
but internal politics, democracy and human rights, economic development and
conflict resolution figured on Cohen’s agendas.
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