A tale of two countries

What is this book about? Rather than jumping directly into key conceptual matters, perhaps it would be useful to start with a vivid tale that illustrates many of the issues, themes, and questions raised in this volume – ones of order and authority, war and peace, intervention, and the structures, networks, and discourses that shape these outcomes. Hence this tale of two countries whose destinies seem to be closely interrelated and the varied, multi-textured forces that are shaping them.

In the 1970s, Uganda under the tyranny of Idi Amin became the early prototype of the failing post-colonial state as its economy and capacity to govern seemed to melt away while violence and uncertainty spread. Despite external help, the Ugandan governments of the early 1980s were unable to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again, as conflict ravaged many parts of the county. Yoweri Museveni formed a guerrilla army that eventually took power, and he became president in early 1986. To the surprise of most observers, Museveni managed for the most part to put Uganda back together again in the waning years of the Cold War. He had a great deal of external support from Western governments, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, agencies of the United Nations (UN), the Catholic Church and other religious groups, and a whole host of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This help was reinforced and influenced by dominant international discourses about economic reform, political liberalization, human rights, poverty reduction, and development more generally.