Product Description
The interviews in this book were conducted for the Nordic Africa Institute’s research project ‘National Liberation in Southern Africa—The role of the Nordic countries’. Around 80 representatives of the Southern African liberation movements, as well as Swedish and other opinion makers, administrators and politicians, reflect on the Nordic support to these struggles. Prominent contemporary leaders—among them Joaquim Chissano from Mozambique, Kenneth Kaunda from Zambia and Thabo Mbeki from South Africa—give their views on a relationship that largely developed outside the public arena and of which there is scant evidence in open sources. The book is a reference source to a unique North-South relationship in the Cold War period. ... Read more

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2009 Reprint,updated,printed ""on demand"" - Angola Country Study Guide ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Canada and the World Backgrounder, published by Taylor Publishing Consultants Ltd. on December 1, 2001. The length of the article is 747 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Angola. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2001
Publisher: Taylor Publishing Consultants Ltd.
Volume: 67Issue: 3Page: S19(2)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
The notion of engagement underlies the history of diplomacy, and as such represents the most important tool in a foreign policy practitioner's armoury. Today, improved communications are allowing citizens of democratic nations to see the real nature of the states with which their governments engage, including those with dire records concerning the human rights of their own citizens. The idea of 'constructive engagement' is forwarded by governments as a method whereby pressure can be brought to bear on these countries to improve their record on human rights, while diplomatic and economic contacts can be maintained. But does this approach achieve positive outcomes? To-answer this question, this book offers a critical evaluation of one of the best known examples of constructive engagement - the Reagan administration's policy towards South Africa. North America: Ohio U Press; South Africa: Jacana ... Read more

Product Description
This book examines the complex relationship between the Portuguese authoritarian regime, the domestic textile industry, and colonial cotton production in Angola and Mozambique. Contrary to the common assumption, it argues that state policies did not always favour Portugal's major industry, nor did links with the empire consistently benefit it. Pitcher argues that instead conflicting interests and contradictory policies had unintentional, even debilitating, effects on many participants in the system. She exposes the pitfalls of authoritarian economic solutions and assesses the influence of empire on the development of a major industry. ... Read more

Product Description
This work focuses on foreign alcohol at Luanda and its Hinterland, where the connections between foreign alcohol and the slave export trade reached their zenith. It covers the problem of alcohol in African history, and assesses the impact of foreign alcohol on West-Central African consumers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Well worth it.
I first read this book 27 years ago as a senior in college. The author spent several days on campus lecturing to a small group of seniors who took part in this particualr seminar course. It was absolutely fascinating. I will read this book again.

Later that year I formally applied to the CIA's training program. I attended a large group orientation meeting - maybe 60 people. In the course of the meeting a list of suggested reading material was passed out to all. During Q & A time I asked the CIA presenter why Stockwell's book was conspicuously absent from the reading list. "Oh, you must be the guy from Vassar." was his only comment. He correctly identified me out of an otherwise anonymous group of applicants just from the question I asked. He knew Stockwell was on campus. He knew I must have attended his class. These guys do their homework. I'll never forget it.

CIA
Well written book on the operations of the CIA in Angola by a well-respected authority who was once on the inside.

Good title expressing the CIA and US military-industrial complex' need to find enemies since WWII down to our day.

Nuts and bolts of a CIA covert operation
In the last decade, a lot of CIA exposés have been published, with the declassification of many previously unavailable documents. What distinguishes this one is that it was originally published in 1976, which makes it one of the first, and it is written by an extraordinary man who could not have been more personally involved in the subject of his book.

If you are looking for a James Bond genre spy novel, you will be disappointed. If you want to understand, in detail, the actual structure and dynamics of a covert CIA operation, this book is the jackpot. In the early 1970's Mr. Stockwell was in charge of the Angola Task Force. He knows what he is talking about. This book is very direct and hits hard. For the most part Stockwell just presents the facts and allows the reader to decide, but of course the book is written after he experienced a moral rectification and left the CIA. The book is intended as an insider's exposé, and it does a fantastic job. He makes no attempt to justify his own role in the drama, referring to himself as a "villain".

Personally, I found the author to be a fascinating man. He grew up in the heart of the Belgium Congo, where he learned French and Tshiluba, one of the many native languages of the country. Obviously, he got a first hand glimpse of an African nation colonized by a European power. I assume he learned English from his parents, his vocabulary is slightly more extensive than my own.

Later he joined the Marines, and as a reconnaissance officer on a Navy cruise he engaged in covert hydrographic surveys off the western African coast.Afterwards, as a CIA officer, he did a tour of duty in Vietnam, but has apparently had many CIA experiences in many African countries as well. I hope this man writes a biography someday, it would be fascinating.

As the author himself recommends, buy a used copy of this book already in circulation, not a new copy. The CIA sued Stockwell over publication of this book, and all new sales proceeds go to the agency, not to him. That by itself is a strong recommendation to read his story.

In a word - DRY
Not to put too fine a point on it but this book is DRY - almost like a text book.There is very little action and/or suspense brought forth about involvement in the Angola operation and what could have been was quickly blunted with operational and bureaucratic detail.And that's how the book drags on, with excruciating detail. In one part, Mr. Stockwell describes what he did to finally get a desk to work from at Langley by sitting in the hall in everyone's way and stacking his papers up beside him.What took him pages to describe should've been done in a simple paragraph.To be fair, the book is written from the viewpoint of an intelligence staffer not a cloak and dagger operative. Yes, there might be some interest in how inefficient the CIA was operating back in the mid-1970s but that's true for most large government organizations. He also describes some of the "political" machinations between officials within the CIA.Again, mildly interesting but nothing notable. Some of the descriptions of dialog and reactions of persons seems contrived, almost as if he (or some ghost writer) added these things for effect. It almost "reads" like a fiction novel in that respect. Rather than writing a solid, crisp account with thoughtful and concise opinions about CIA policy and inner workings the book devolves often times into monotonous detail. However, in the latter chapters the account does get more interesting as he discusses "plausible deniability" and the deception of the CIA to "hide" their involvement. One of the more interesting parts is the organizational background and resources needed to run an operation of this type including the shipping of weapons and ammo, the propaganda strategy, the political workings thru committees, the State Department and the President to gain support, etc.The book does makes one wonder what other rebellions or conflicts the CIA was involved in over the last 30-40 years and is an eye opener about our nations espionage policies. On this level, the book succeeds.But, in the end the book was almost a grind to finish.I'd only recommend this one for the hard core 'spook' fan.

Hardened cynic
It is most interesting to read Mr. Stockwell in light of the fall of the Soviet Union.Before it fell, he was preaching the dread of nuclear annihilation and the common brotherhood of American and Soviet peoples.Ronald Reagan of course, was a apocalyptic fanatic.All well and good - except we won the Cold War and the people behind the Iron Curtain celebrated their liberation for all the world to see.The Soviet horror was worse than we had imagined.

One can not but honor John Stockwell for his service and listen to him carefully for his experience.Especially the bloody mistakes we have made, which he exposes.But in the end, he leaves us with no other plan than for shame and national passivity.What can we do, if all that we do leads to the suffering of innocent peoples caught in the middle?

I make this judgement only from having read John Stockwell and heard his speeches - but he seems like the character who sees too much of the horror of the world - and is utterly cynicized about any good - especially that of his own country.He alone knows the truth.

His first-hand experience makes him a powerful voice.But that does not mean his voice speaks true. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great way to learn about a fighter
I read it when I was in Angola as a volunteer for UNAVEM II to better understand the fight for 'Total Independence' by UNITA, Mr. Savimbi's organization. Very engrossing account of Savimbi's extra-ordinary life. Great book to read to understand the geo-politics of south-west africa. ... Read more