I cannot agree with you more. Rule of law and stable government are necessary to create an environment in which the economy can develop and circumstances for t

I cannot agree with you more. Rule of law and stable government are necessary to create an environment in which the economy can develop and circumstances for the people improve. Democracy in an ethnically heterogeneous country does not make this easier, not when the ethnicities in question have simmering feuds and vendettas. That the US became somewhat ethnically diverse after a stable core was established does not change the fact that African countries have a substantially more difficult task ahead of them in trying to establish governmental and legal frameworks in the midst of competing tribalist agendas. So, if it works for Rwanda, leave well enough alone. Results are what matter in Africa right now, not whether a country complies 100% with a Western definition of democracy while citizens are starving in droves. The first human right is the right to life, and at least some form of security. Free speech comes significantly later. Democracies in the West work (somewhat) because of shared values established over centuries. Policies of one particular political party compared to another are differences in degree, the parties do not question the underlying foundations of the nation, and one party getting voted into power is hardly the beginning of a purge or dictatorship. You cannot expect a full-fledged, functioning democracy to grow overnight when not a decade ago people were being killed in their thousands.