My invited commentary on the
New York Times "
Room for Debate" page today, September 20, 2012.
Here was the debate:
A Human Rights Watch report
recently linked Rwanda to war crimes in Congo, a disturbing mark
against a nation that has been held up as an African success story.
While Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame,
has improved the country’s economy and kept it stable in the wake of a
brutal civil war, he has also been accused of being repressive and
autocratic.
It’s not just Rwanda: The late prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, was praised by the West, but under his regime, journalism has been a dangerous pursuit.
How should an influential country like the United States navigate
relationships with authoritarian regimes that have improved living
standards in their nations, like Kagame did in Rwanda and Zenawi did in
Ethiopia?
In the wake of China’s growth and the West’s continued stagnation,
many developing countries now look to China for aid, investment and
trade. United States officials have repeatedly warned Africans to be
wary of China’s warm embrace. But might China’s way of engaging in
countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia provide lessons for the U. S.?
Like many East Asians, the Chinese have old-fashioned ideas about
development. “To end poverty, first build a road,” they say. Boost
agriculture and manufacturing. Soak up low-skilled workers, then move up
the value chain.
'To end poverty, first build a road,' the Chinese say.
Most of our allies developed in just this way, including Korea and
Taiwan. Economic development and a growing middle class led to calls for
accountability, transparency and greater freedoms. Yet as donors, the
U.S. and many others in the West abandoned this recipe, without
providing an effective game plan to take its place.
Take Rwanda, where aid from Western donors is now at risk because of
several critical reports on Rwanda’s alleged secret support for a
violent rebellion in nearby Congo. Seventy-five percent of
U.S. aid to Rwanda
goes to health, the bulk of it to HIV/Aids, with less than 10 percent
supporting economic growth. We’re keeping more people alive, but we’re
not doing much to provide jobs.
Asked whether China would join in the growing boycott, the
Chinese ambassador to Rwanda demurred.
His government planned to keep supporting the roads, agricultural and
power projects that make up the bulk of its aid portfolio.
In authoritarian Ethiopia, the U.S.
shipped in close to $450 million
in surplus U.S. commodities last year: more than half of all our aid.
Beijing gave a loan to build a toll road leading to the coast, and
supported the construction of the Eastern Industrial Zone. In January, a
Chinese company, Huajian,
hired and trained 800 Ethiopians
to make ladies shoes for the U.S. market. Six large Chinese firms have
now invested in Ethiopia’s thriving leather products sector, but none
from the U.S.
The U.S. can’t close its eyes to atrocities in Africa. Sanctions and
threats will sometimes have their place. But we could do a lot more to
help Africans build their own economic pathway to better governance.
