Defeating dictators Fighting tyranny in Africa and around the world

"The only good dictator is a dead one," argues this hard-nosed, outspoken pro-democracy manifesto and how-to manual. Economist Ayittey (Africa Unchained) surveys current and former dictatorships, aka "vampire states," from his native Ghana, where he helped lead a successful movement against the despot Jerry Rawlings, to Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus, and the tottering tyrannies of the Arab world. Ayittey mixes right-leaning socioeconomics-he champions capitalism against socialist development schemes-with a bullet-pointed primer for activists, one that's full of practical insights on the need for unity among opposition groups, the centrality of independent radio stations and other "free media," the potency of civil service strikes against military rulers, and the usefulness of motor oil for toppling antidemocracy thugs from their scooters. Ayittey's unorthodox political theories-he favors traditional modes of "consensus" decision making over Western-style multiparty majority votes, and insists that political reform must precede economic liberalization-will be as controversial as his one-size-fits-all conception of dictatorship, lumping together countries as dissimilar as China and Ethiopia, which can seem simplistic. Still, his forthright language, lucid analyses, and pragmatic attitude make this a compelling and timely challenge to the despotism-as-usual status quo. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

How to deal with despots in Africa and other parts of the world.The founder of the Free Africa Foundation,Ayittey (Economics/American Univ.; Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africa's Future, 2004, etc.) has struggled for nearly 40 years to advance the idea that despotic governments are not caused by external factorsimperialism, for examplebut by internal corruption and incompetence. In fact, the author argues that intervention from the United States and other Western powers often aggravates the problem. His latest work elaborates on "Ayittey's Law," which identifies the sequence of events that accompany what have been successful movements against despotic regimes. Ayittey divides the despotic regimes into "vampire states" and "coconut republics." The worst of the vampire states include Mexico and Nigeria, while Uganda and Tanzania are among the coconut republics. He also provides a helpful list of "the most odious and despicable" of the despotic regimes, which include Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Than Shwe of Myanmar and Isaiah Afwerki of Eritrea. The author writes that traditional societies can provide a basis for opposing despots and despotisms. In addition to providing recipes for tactics to be employed against differing kinds of despotisms, Ayittey also shows where movements against despots have failed. Freedom of expression and outreach through media access are among the tactics he recommends, and he cites the successful use of radio in Ghana and online activities in Egypt and Tunisia.A useful step-by-step guide to "help oppressed people...bring democratic change to their countries peacefullywithout violence, without firing a shot, and without Western help or intervention."]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.