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Idi Amin made himself out to be the ‘liberator’ of an oppressed majority – a demagogic trick that endures today

  • Written by Derek R. Peterson, Ali Mazrui Professor of History & African Studies, University of Michigan
imageIdi Amin addresses the United Nations General Assembly in 1975.Bettmann/Getty Images

Fifty years ago, Ugandan President Idi Amin wrote to the governments of the British Commonwealth with a bold suggestion: Allow him to take over as head of the organization, replacing Queen Elizabeth II.

After all, Amin reasoned, a collapsing economy had made the...

Read more: Idi Amin made himself out to be the ‘liberator’ of an oppressed majority – a demagogic trick that...

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