Designing West Africa: Prelude to 21st Century Calamity (2004)

Title: Designing West Africa: Prelude to 21st Century Calamity (2004)
Author: P Schwab
H: 1706632
ISBN: 9781403965493
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2004
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: 2004
Number of Pages: 190
Section: History | Africa | West
Condition Note: Excellent, unmarked copy with little wear and tight binding. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description: Many African nations are now described as 'fourth world nations', ones which essentially have no future. How could this have happened? Through the scope of the 1960's, the first decade of African independence, Peter Schwab presents a compelling and provocative answer to this question. Designing West Africa tells the story of a pivotal decade in African history, when the fate of the continent was decided. Focusing on the six most visible leaders of the period - painting detailed portraits of them both as leaders and as people - Schwab looks at how Africa served as a ground to play out larger international conflicts, namely the Cold War. He does not fall back on blaming non-African involvement for the failure to build a visible leadership for the continent; rather he critiques the African leaders themselves for their individual failings.