Omar Bongo Quotes
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The principle of responsibility and collective sanctions is incompatible with the Western concept of justice.
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It is up to African leaders to show their will and political courage in order to assure that this new pan-African institution becomes an efficient instrument and not a place for endless discussions.
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Because the world is in economic recession, which worsened since this drama happened, and our country will bear the burden of all of these consequences.
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The birth of the African Union should encourage us to reexamine relations between African States.
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The free market economy is supposed to be the only path leading to the happiness of humanity by promoting wealth and prosperity, power and influence of nations.
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If the Soviet Union and the United States have not experienced direct military confrontations, on the other hand, they supported, armed and trained Africans, to fight other Africans.
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But it is important to observe that when Europe or the United Nations impose sanctions that are supposed to be aimed against a certain regime, usually generally millions of people end up being directly punished.
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There is an idea of democracy produced by one-sided thinking.
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Globalization, far from putting an end to power diplomacy between States, has, on the contrary, intensified it.
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But the Western countries that link their partnership with the poorest countries with respect for democracy also have to consider that they have obligations towards these countries.
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The resources of our continent attract, more than ever, the interests of rich countries.
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Therefore, every country has to understand that fighting against international terrorism is not for the sake of the United States, but for the sake of themselves, and, to a larger extent, in the name of stability of international relations.
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From the time of independences until the end of the Cold War, in spite of the participation of a considerable number of African states in the non-aligned movement, everyone in fact chose to align with one or another of the two major blocks.
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The introduction of political pluralism often quickly led to bad results.
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It is important to stress: Africa is also a victim of the September 11 attacks.
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Certainly, Africa accounts for only l % of world trade, and we cannot assure our development on our own.
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Do not forget that the Arab countries, starting with Algeria and Egypt, are the ones that have paid the heaviest toll because of Islamic terror.
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But since independence, Gabon is one of the few countries in Central Africa that enjoys peace and stability.
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I am in favor of complete freedom of information and of free access to the new communication tools, in particular the Internet.
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In short, we have, among African countries, a duty of solidarity.
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Economic sanctions rarely achieve the desired results.
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The world is now aware that the most unavoidable and most dangerous weapon that exists is the blind decisiveness of a man ready to sacrifice his life for an obscure cause.
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The shock caused by the September 11 events has also lead to a thorough reflection on the existing disparity between rich and poor countries, on the misery of populations of the South.
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In brief, Western democracy, as other political models, is not exportable to all regions of the world.