Customer Reviews

Angola's Last Best Chance for Peace: An Insider's Account of the Peace Process

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mediation is harder work than the mainstream media is able (or at least willing) to let on. For that reason, a book like this is an invaluable resource for anyone thinking of a career in diplomacy. Historically speaking, Hare's book is outdated, since peace has come, gone, and come again in Angola since it was published in 1998. Nonetheless, it's a valuable study of a crucial period in the country's long road to recovery from civil war, from the perspective of a participant who had an almost-inside view of both camps in the dispute. I'm persuaded that the Angolan reviewers above have a point, that Hare is too much of an outsider to have a complete appreciation of what their country went through. What he does provide completely, though, is an insider's look at the realities of American diplomacy, how it works, and why it doesn't always work quickly. It's a great case study of a difficult case, valuable to students of both African and American politics.

Angola, still in the midst of a decades-long battle when Hare's work began, is a good example of the ultimate challenge in that field. Hare's style is a bit dry, but his accounts of the two steps up, one step back peace process is refreshingly straightforward and devoid of political spin, to a degree that has been almost unthinkable in America for quite some time now. Although Hare shows no sign of any political agenda beyond that dictated by his job, this study gives the lie to any argument that the Clinton administration's interest in Africa began and ended with Somalia or that it was inept on the international stage. The leaders of both sides of the conflict are presented in a surprisingly reasonable light given the circumstances, and Hare at least tries to account for the convoluted political lay of the land as the war appeared to draw to a conclusion. Some previous familiarity with recent Angolan history is certainly helpful in understanding the story, but all the basics are here. It ends on an appropriately uncertain note, but events since the end of Hare's account have demonstrated that the efforts weren't wasted.

I bought this book because there are so few books written about Angola in English. It is both a delight and a huge disappointment. Granted, Hare concentrates on one topic only - his very valuable experience of 'peace' making in Angola. To this extent, the book is a very useful 'fact-checker' for anyone working in or on Angolan issues today. He provides a chronology of events of the negotiations for Lusaka that is written clearly and concisely. It is probably a good enough guide for a student of African affairs or international relations. However, for anyone who has lived or worked in Angola, it comes close to pure entertainment at times. His book reveals how narrow-minded Western diplomats and politicians can be when they are dealing with a region outside their own cultural boundary. He unwittingly shows how little he understands about the people of Angola, let alone their leaders such as Jonas Savimbi, UNITA's leader. Quoting phrases from his diary, Hare's analyses of why Savimbi behaved in a certain way or other serve to reveal how Hare failed to look at the Angolan crisis from any view other than his own. I have heard this book described as 'laughably bad' and as a 'perfect example of how the Americans get it wrong in Africa'. These are indeed perceptive comments. I would advise anyone interested in Angola today to read this, preferably with a few Angolans at hand to point out the absurd cultural assumptions that Hare shamelessly commits.

This is one more typical politically correct description on Angola Crisis, by the US point of view. The history go further on the ground.

why does it take so long to get such a good book