Saturday, January 31, 2009

Being a head of state is not like being in a restaurant. I have to have time to think about it.

From Tyler Cowen:

"
Africa's World War

The subtitle is Congo, The Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe and yes the book truly explains all of these things or at least gives it a noble try. The author is Gérard Prunier. I've been stunned by how much I've learned from this book, which is clear without denying the underlying complexities. I rate it as one of the two excellent books of the year so far, the other being Ted Gioia's book on the history of the blues.

You'll find a very critical review of the book here but I was more impressed by the book than by the review. I liked this excerpt:

Interviewer: What model of democracy do you see as suitable?

Kabila: I cannot say now, you are asking too much. Being a head of state is not like being in a restaurant. I have to have time to think about it.

Me:

I'd like to recommend a few blogs:

http://stopthewarinnorthkivu.wordpress.com/

http://blogs.lesoir.be/colette-braeckman/

http://blogs.reuters.com/africa/

Posted by: Don the libertarian Democrat at Jan 31, 2009 5:01:03 PM

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