Dominic
asked
Tim Butcher:
Tim - I'm a great admirer of "Blood River", and the lengths to which you went in order to obtain the story. Despite having a vast array of resources, the DRC seems to have remained horribly underdeveloped and locked in a cycle of misery. As such, what do you think is the best way forward for the DRC?
Tim Butcher
Dominic – thank you for such a direct and powerful question. Not sure there is a direct and powerful answer but what follows is my best effort. The best way forward for DRC lies in the hands not of outsiders (diplomats, aid workers, UN types, writers) but its own people. While many readers of Blood River ask if I am pessimistic about the future for DRC, I prefer to say I am realistic: the problems are immense but the human capital of the people I know from there is so magnificent that I am sure they have the ability to turn it round.
History tells us that dark places can move towards light, acute problems can be solved. Dickensian London is not a place you or I would like to have lived as a normal person (not middle class, not propertied, not privileged), indeed Britain was, as Marlow tells us in Heart of Darkness `once a dark place’. And yet today, London is not as Dickens describes it, David Cameron’s brutal efforts notwithstanding.
So once the Congolese take the leap forward themselves, I see great grounds for progress. But only when they are good and ready and not before outsiders have stopped kidding themselves of an easy fix.
History tells us that dark places can move towards light, acute problems can be solved. Dickensian London is not a place you or I would like to have lived as a normal person (not middle class, not propertied, not privileged), indeed Britain was, as Marlow tells us in Heart of Darkness `once a dark place’. And yet today, London is not as Dickens describes it, David Cameron’s brutal efforts notwithstanding.
So once the Congolese take the leap forward themselves, I see great grounds for progress. But only when they are good and ready and not before outsiders have stopped kidding themselves of an easy fix.
More Answered Questions
Allan Schulz
asked
Tim Butcher:
Tim - I thoroughly enjoyed your original take on the origins of WWI in "The Trigger". The way you were able to weave your experience from the Bosnian War in the 90s added a further level to one's understanding of an important subject. You may have to ask Bosnian Tourism for royalties as you made the place seem most appealing to an adventurer! What do you plan on writing about next?
Tatum
asked
Tim Butcher:
Your book, Blood River, was a wonderfully vivid description of a place and people I long to see. I very much appreciated how in your journey through the Congo you were aware of your privilege and what this (and being a white man) communicated. I wondered, however, what effect your presence had on the communities you passed through? E.g. Would the mai-mai target the communities you passed through? (Loved the book btw)
Phil Cotnoir
asked
Tim Butcher:
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to hear your thoughts on the terrible Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. I read Chasing the Devil a while back and it seemed like you had quite a firm grasp on the history and particular cultures of those countries. Any thoughts?
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