“Surrender or Starve” (1988) is one of the first, if not the first, book by American Robert Kaplan, long one of my favourite current affairs writers (although his latest books are less successful, in my view). This one deals with the famines in the Horn of Africa in the 1980s, and rather eloquently makes the point that these famines were instruments of war, not just acts of Gods, but that reporting by Western media was one-sided, focused on starving children rather than the real issues – issues that were long being denied or ignored by those comfortably based in Addis Ababa. He breaks a lance for the Tigrean and Eritrean independence fighters that opposed the Ethiopian Derg – the brutal communist elite – and he exposes the naivety of US foreign policy, focused on winning hearts through humanitarian relief, as opposed to the cold-hearted but strategically superior Soviet approach of militarily supporting the communist elite.

Great book, well researched and well written. The problem is that it is passé, Eritrea is now an independent state and Tigreans rule Ethiopia after having defeated the Derg; even the Soviet Union doesn’t exist anymore. Yet, from an historical point of view, well worth it, if only to provide an insight in the African ruler’s psyche. ( )

This is a much more compelling book to read than the more pedestrian A History of Ethiopia by Harold Marcus. Perhaps because it deals with more recent history. Kaplan is particularly enamored with the leadership of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, which is where the current President of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, came from. And there was promise when Kaplan wrote this book in 2003. Since then, alas, the Ethiopian leadership has devolved into the same old, same old. Meles would appear to have almost no popular support among the people, and yet garnered 98.6 percent of the vote in the last election. Ethiopian politics is about staying in power, no matter what. As in most African countries, this means making your friends rich and making your enemies suffer. Kaplan points out persuasively that starvation is not the natural order of things, but a political tool that is wielded by most of the governments in the Horn of Africa. You see the truth of this just be reading the news of the day in Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia. ( )

Jeg viste denne boken til en venn av meg som var med til Etiopia. Han leste det siste kapittelet, og likte ikke det han leste. En amerikansk mørkemann og krigshisser som gir Etiopia skylden for all elendigheten som har vederfaret Afrikas horn de siste femti årene. Robert Kaplan, kjent som presidenters rådgiver og som en av USAs mest anerkjente skribenter, besøker Afrikas horn i perioden 1986-88 og returnerer igjen i 2002. Denne boken prøver å forklare årsakene til det som skjer i regionen på den tiden, på hvilken måte USA unnfaller seg og lar være å bruse med fjærene, men i stedet velger samarbeid med Mengistus regime og nødhjelp som i praksis finansierer våpenmakt . Kaplans påstand er at hvis USA hadde gått inn med tungt, militært press, så hadde ikke Sovjetunionen fått påvirke forholdene, og hungerskatastrofer av bibeleske proporsjoner hadde vært unngått. Band Aid og JImmy Carter får så hatten passer, og Afrika får som det fortjener - med ett unntak. Eritrea er rollemodellen, mønstereleven som helt uten støtte utenfra selvstendig og modig klarer å stå imot, og etterhvert vippe det etiopiske trollet av pinnen og viser oss hvordan ting egentlig skal gjøres.
Demokrati? Nei, det er ikke Afrika modent for.
Jeg er mer skeptisk til Robert Kaplan nå enn før jeg leste denne boken. ( )

I read this well after the situation had started in Ethiopia and Somalia. It was good information after the fact, but I had read several other good accounts by the time I read this. ( )

Not Kaplan's best, but definitely enlightening.

http://www.kbuxton.com/weblog/2007/07/africa.html ( )