ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the strategies utilized by Western donor countries and multi-lateral financial institutions to encourage the creation of more plural political systems in East Africa. The radical influence of the dependency-school, coupled with the lack of a generally accepted development framework among donors, facilitated bilateral relations based on priorities determined in East Africa. The new global environment at the end of the Cold War is a key variable that explains why donors took the lead in pressing for a more plural order and why East African leaders were willing to reengage in the often contentious dialogue of reform. External efforts to promote democracy in East Africa are exclusively Western and take place against the historical background of imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism. Uganda, more than any East African country, highlights the tradeoffs involved in donor-recipient state relations.
