ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book examines five military officers turned heads of state who ruled the little-known Islamic Republic of Mauritania since coup d'état of July 10, 1978. It evaluates their mindsets and approach to handling some most daunting challenges their country faces. The book reviews the literature related to key concepts of the study such as leadership in general and studies of typologies of leaders, particularly Robert Jackson and Carl Rosberg's seminal typology of African leadership. It examines the record of each colonel in addressing two most critical challenges the country has faced so intensely, certainly since they have been in charge. The book compares and contrasts the foreign policies the colonels conducted against the background of tradition of Mauritania's relations with the rest of world as established between 1960 and 1978, with resounding success, by President Moktar Ould Daddah, the country's founding father.
