George Ayittey B N - Defeating dictators : fighting tyranny in Africa and around the world

FIGHTING TYRANNY IN AFRICA AND AROUND THE WORLD

GEORGE B. N. AYITTEY

ALSO BY GEORGE B. N. AYITTEY
AND AVAILABLE FROM PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

Africa Betrayed
Africa in Chaos
Africa Unchained

DEFEATING DICTATORS
Copyright , George B. N. Ayittey, 2011.
All rights reserved.

First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United Statesa division of St. Martins Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN: 978-0-230-10859-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Data Ayittey, George B. N., 1945

Defeating dictators : fighting tyranny in Africa and around the world / George B.N. Ayittey.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-230-10859-2 (hardback)

1. DemocratizationAfrica. 2. Regime changeAfrica. 3. DictatorshipAfrica. 4. AfricaPolitics and government19605. Democratization. 6. Regime change. 7. Dictatorship. I. Title.
JQ1879.A15A98 2011
320.96dc23

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

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First edition: November 2011

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Printed in the United States of America.

Dedicated to the freedom activists who have died in the last few years fighting tyrannical regimes

Abdelbaki Djabali, Ahmed Benchemsi, Lounes Matoub (Algeria)

Oleg Bebenin (Belarus)

Wang Bingzhang, Hu Jia, Gao Zhisheng, Liu Xiaobo, Yu Jie (China)

Delphie Namuto, Caddy Adzuba, and Bruno Koko Chirambiza (Congo DR)

Khaled Mohamed Saeed, Salaheddin Mohsen, Saad Eddin Ibrahim (Egypt)

Matewos Habteab, Amanuel Asrat, Medhanie Haile, Yusuf Mohamed Ali, Sad Abdelkader, Fessehaye Yohannes, Yusuf Mohamed Ali, Sad Abdelkader, and Medhanie Haile (Eritrea)

ShiBire Desalegn, Tensae Zegeye, Habtamu Tola, Binyam Degefa, Behailu Tesfaye, Kasim Ali Rashid, Teodros Giday Hailu, Adissu Belachew, Milion Kebede Robi, Desta Umma Birru, Tiruwork G. Tsadik, Elfnesh Tekle, Abebeth Huletu, Regassa Feyessa, Teshome Addis Kidane, and Birtukan Midekssa (Ethiopia)

Deyda Hydara, Sarata Jabbi, Pa Modou Faal, Pap Saine, Ebrima Sawaneh, Sam Sarr, and Abubacarr (The Gambia)

Sanah Jaleh, Mohamad Mokhtari, Neda Agha-Soltan, Klan Tajbakhsh, Muhammad-Reza Ali-Zamani (Iran)

Idrees Boufayed, Daif Al Ghazal, Abd al-Raziq al-Mansuri, Fathi Eljahmi, and the rebels (Libya)

Kamsulum Kazeem, Tunde Oladepo, and Tunde Salau (Nigeria)

Hwang Jang Yop and other pro-democracy activists (North Korea)

Anna Politkovskaya, Anastasia Baburova, Natalya Estemirova, Stanislav Markelov, Mikhail Beketov, Oleg Kashin, Anatoly Adamchuk, and others (Russia)

Jean-Leonard Rugambage, Andre Kagwa Rwiserek, and Victoire Ingabire (Rwanda)

Yousif Kuwa Mekki (Sudan)

Tal al-Mallohi (Syria)

Mohammed Bouazizi, Lahseen Naji, Ramzi Al-Abboudi, Mohamed Ammari, Chawki Belhoussine El Hadri (Tunisia)

Jimmy Higenyi, Dr. James Rwanyare (Uganda)

Godknows Dzoro Mtshakazi, Gift Tandere, Shepherd Ndungu (Zimbabwe)

IN MY STRUGGLES, VARIOUS PEOPLE, both Americans and Africans, as well as foundations, institutes, and agencies have provided me with support and encouragement. I owe each one of them a huge debt of gratitude.

The Earhart Foundation in Ann Arbor, Michigan was helpful with funding to enable me to complete this book. The J. M. Kaplan Fund in New York was extremely helpful, as was the Cato Institute in Washington, DC.

The Board of Directors of The Free Africa Foundation, its staff, scholars, and associates must also be mentioned. Keith Colburn of North Brook, Phil Harvey of DKT International, Mary Kaplan of New York, and Ed Claflin, my literary agent, among others, have been extremely supportive.

There are many others (Americans, Canadians, South Africans, and other nationalities) to whom I still owe a debt of gratitude: Lynne Criner, John Fund (The Wall Street Journal), Georgie Ann Geyer (nationally syndicated columnist), Ashleigh Emmerson, Elizabeth Dickinson of Foreign Policy, Sandy and Margaret Matheson, Maggie Beddow, Luba Ostashevsky, Alan Bradshaw, and others were particularly helpful.

Last but not least have been the numerous Ghanaians and other Africans who have shown unflappable support for my work and writings. Worthy of mention are Dr. Shaka Ssali of Straight Talk Africa, Mohamed Idris, Karanta Kalley, Dr. Charles Mensa, Ablorh Odjijah, Rev. G. B. K. Owusu, Vivian Boafo, and many, many others.

A special gratitude is owed to Emmanuel Odamtten, an administrative assistant at The Free Africa Foundation, for his diligence, steadfast support, and research.

In the final analysis, however, the views expressed in this book are my own, and any errors or misstatements are my sole responsibility.

George B. N. Ayittey, Ph.D.
Washington, D.C.
USA
July 2011

DEMOCRACY HAS SUFFERED A STEADY DECLINE five consecutive years in a row. In its 2011 annual report, Freedom House describes this as a continuing freedom recession. It suggests that conventional ways of fighting dictators are not working and that a re-evaluation is imperative. Despots are gaining the upper hand; they have learned new tricks and honed their skills to beat back the democratic challenge.

The purpose of this book is not to present a catalog of grotesque atrocities and scandalous human rights violations that despots around the world perpetrate against their own people. The singular purpose is to advance the cause of liberty. There are millions of peoplein Africa, Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and South Americawho still labor under the yoke of tyranny and who yearn to be free. This book seeks to help liberate them. It may seem like a formidable and impossible task that is strewn with obstacles. But it depends upon the way the problemdictatorshipis viewed and tackled.

In the past, and even conventionally, much effort, money, and time have been spent to reason with, persuade, cajole, or bribe dictators, or even threaten them with sanctions. Western governments have spent billions in this effort to no or little avail. A new way of thinking or a different approach is imperative. Leave the dictators alone for now. They are stone-deaf and impervious to reason. Railing daily about their abuses of human rights, acts of brutality, and violence will not alone bring about change. It is time to think about the other side, the opposition, the pro-democracy activists and reformers. That is the focus of this book.

Dictators have proliferated, especially in postcolonial Africa, not so much because of their ingenuity but because of the nature and character of the opposition forcesboth domestic and internationalarrayed against them. To be sure, dictators are crafty, evil geniuses with awesome firepower at their disposal. They are also brutally efficient at intimidation, terrorism, and mass slaughter.

However, a force is able to dominate because the counterforce is either nonexistent or weak. Despots have prevailed for decades because the opposition forces are weak or crumbling. The purpose of this book, based in part upon my own personal experience and on lessons garnered from several developing countries, is to strengthen the opposition forces.