l'importance du passé

"La voie la plus courte vers l'avenir est qui passe par l'approfondissement du passé."

The deeper you look into the past, the shorter your way to the future.

Via BHLasen, I came across an elegant quote from Aimé Césaire. The quote is sage advice for leaders of developing countries who are struggling to unite territories with several unique identities. Specifically, I'm thinking of the big challenge the Government of Uganda faces when trying to connect the country at the close of the LRA conflict. Uganda has made incredible progress following the first 30 nightmarish years of independence. However, the fact that the last 20 years has only been a nightmare for the northern half of the country points to the face that Uganda's deep fissures are far from healed.

My daily work will hopefully amount to a contribution to a closing of these fissures, but one central question continues to stand out in my mind: If the government is responsible for setting the scene for reconciliation, what can compel them to do so? Geo-political realities? Economic opportunity? Museveni's legitimate desire for a positive legacy?

Are these motivations strong enough to push Uganda beyond its deeply ingrained culture of sectarianism?

I've written before, in response to Fukuyama, about the role of building political institutions within specific cultural contexts.