East Africa after Liberation: Conflict, Security and the State since the 1980s

East Africa's postcolonial political settlement was challenged by four revolutionary liberation movements from 1986 to 1994, which transformed from rebels to rulers. This study explores the challenges these movements faced in delivering fundamental change, drawing on over 130 interviews with post-liberation elite. It highlights the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectories, and their own violent organizational cultures.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 342 pages
Publication date: 24 March 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Between 1986 and 1994, East Africa's postcolonial political settlement faced a profound challenge as four revolutionary liberation movements seized power in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda. After years of armed struggle against vicious dictatorships, these movements transformed from rebels to rulers, promising to deliver fundamental change. This study exposes, examines, and underlines the acute challenges each has faced in doing so. Drawing on over 130 interviews with the region's post-liberation elite, undertaken over the course of a decade, Jonathan Fisher takes a fresh and empirically-grounded approach to explaining the fast-moving politics of the region over the last three decades, focusing on the role and influence of its guerrilla governments. East Africa after Liberation sheds critical light on the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectories, and their own violent organizational cultures.

Between 1986 and 1994, East Africa's postcolonial political settlement faced a profound challenge as four revolutionary liberation movements seized power in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda. After years of armed struggle against vicious dictatorships, these movements transformed from rebels to rulers, promising to deliver fundamental change. This study exposes, examines, and underlines the acute challenges each has faced in doing so. Drawing on over 130 interviews with the region's post-liberation elite, undertaken over the course of a decade, Jonathan Fisher takes a fresh and empirically-grounded approach to explaining the fast-moving politics of the region over the last three decades, focusing on the role and influence of its guerrilla governments. East Africa after Liberation sheds critical light on the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectories, and their own violent organizational cultures.

Weight: 462g
ISBN-13: 9781108714310
Edition number: New ed