Customer Reviews

Engaging Africa: Washington and the Fall of Portugal's Colonial Empire

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I lived through many of the events that are described in this book and though certainly not an expert on this topic, I'm probably more familiar with it than the average reader. English language books about the Portuguese experience in Africa, particularly during the early 60s to the mid to late 70s are few and far between, so any book that is decently researched and written, as this one is, is a welcome addition. It is not a perfect book, though. Despite an impressive list of sources and exclusive interviews, including with some of the most prominent Portuguese political figures during this period, the treatment of the topic is fairly superficial. Most of the material seems to come from declassified cables, open sources and less than incisive interviews with key players. The interviews with Portuguese and American personalities are, for the most part, not particularly revealing -- sometimes no more than platitudes. And there is almost no material from sources in the former insurgent movements. MIsspellings of common Portuguese terms abound, and the author employs an often disconcerting asychronous structure to the narrative. At its best, the book provides a window into the utter failure of US policy to affect Portuguese policy towards Africa in the years leading up to the coup of 25 Apri 1974 that deposed the old regime in Portugal, the failure of US intelligence to predict the coup itself, and the failure of US policy, despite Frank Carlucci's best efforts, to make any significant difference in the post-revolutionary struggle for democracy (the "PREC," or "Processo Revolucionário em Curso." Far from being a victory of US policy and diplomacy in engaging Africa, the independence of Portugal's colonies seemed to have been carried out partly by chance and partly by neglect. And Portugal's transition into democracy are due almost entirely to the combined efforts of Mario Soares and his Socialist party alliances, and to the determination and reasonableness of the Portuguese people themselves, who seemed to know, despite agressive efforts by the Communist Party and its left-wing allies, exactly what they wanted, and did not want, to come out of the revolution. As noted, very little insight is provided into the dynamics of the insurgent and post-insurgent process in the former Portuguese colonies. Other books have focused on this topic in more detail. All in all, this may be a useful general introduction to the unitiated, but it could have been much more, given the resources that the author seems to have had access to.

A very interesting book about the US relations with Portugal from Kennedy to Ford administrations.