Why Nations Fail

C
HAPTER
 13 : W
HY
 N
ATIONS
 F
AIL
 T
ODAY
For the BBC report on Mugabe’s lottery success,
including the public statement of Zimbank, see
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/621895.stm
.
Our treatment of the creation of white rule in Rhodesia
follows Palmer (1977) and Alexander (2006). Meredith
(2007) provides a good overview of more recent
Zimbabwean politics.
Our account of the civil war in Sierra Leone follows
Richards (1996), Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(2004), and Keen (2005). The analysis published in a
newspaper in the capital city of Freetown in 1995 is quoted
from Keen (2005), p. 34. The text of the RUF’s “Footpaths
to 
Democracy” 
can 
we 
found 
at 
www.sierra-
leone.org/AFRC-RUF/footpaths.html
.
The quotation from the teenager from Geoma is from
Keen (2005), p. 42.
Our discussion of the Colombian paramilitaries follows
Acemoglu, Robinson, and Santos (2010) and Chaves and
Robinson (2010), which in turn heavily rely on the extensive
work by Colombian scholars, particularly Romero (2003),
the essays in Romero (2007), and López (2010). León
(2009) is an accessible and balanced account of the nature
of contemporary conflicts in Colombia. Also fundamental is
the Web site run by the weekly newspaper 
Semana
,
www.verdadabierta.com/
. All the quotes come from
Acemoglu, Robinson, and Santos (2010). The contract
between Martín Llanos and the mayors in Casanare is
available 
in 
Spanish 
at
www.verdadabierta.com/victimarios/los-jefes/714-perfil-
hector-german-buitrago-alias-martin-llanos
.
The origins and consequences of El Corralito are well
presented in a series of articles in 
The Economist
magazine, 
available 
at
www.economist.com/search/apachesolr_search/corralito
.
On the role of the interior in Argentine development, see
Sawers (1996).
Hassig and Oh (2009) provides an excellent, valuable
account of life in North Korea. Chap. 2 covers the luxurious

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lifestyle of the leadership, and chaps. 3 and 4, the
economic realities that most people face. The BBC
coverage of the currency reform can be found at
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8500017.stm
. On the pleasure palace
and brandy consumption, see chap. 12 of Post (2004).
Our discussion of child labor and its use for picking
cotton in Uzbeksitan follows Kandiyoti (2008), available at
www.soas.ac.uk/cccac/events/cotton-sector-in-central-asia-
2005/file49842.pdf
. The quote from Gulnaz is on p. 20 of
Kandiyoti. On the Andijon uprising, see International Crisis
Group (2005). The description of the election of Joseph
Stalin in the Soviet Union is reproduced from Denny
(1937).
Our analysis of “crony capitalism” in Egypt follows
Sfakianakis (2004).

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