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I believe Burkina Faso did very well under Thomas Sankara, whether or not you want to call him a "strongman". He definitely was not aligned with the West. In fact, he had close relations with Cuba.

Incidentally, Sankara met Blaise Compaoré, who orchestrated both the coup that brought Sankara to power and the one that murdered him, at a foreign military training facility.

I can't help thinking that voting is a better way to select leaders. It's too bad we haven't invested in some sort of training in democracy.

There were two other coups in the years leading up to Sankara's taking power, so I wouldn't say that the country was exactly in a stable state.

I don't think the problem is the lack of training in democracy. I think the problem is the powerful forces opposed to democracy. When he assassinated Sankara, Blaise Compaoré represented the interests of imperialists.

Essentialism is a bit of a faux pas nowadays, FYI.

Correction: the history of the global south has long been, and will continue to be, instability and exploitation at the hands of the global north.

Colonialism never ended.