leadership during democratic transitions by learning on the go or by committing their leadership in favor of democracy . The latter makes it a particularly rich text in the tradition of Interview with History ( 1974 ) by the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci . Herein she talked with important world leaders and taught us a lot about the history , customs , miseries and high-level politics . Her book is built as a stained glass and condensed into a single beam of light . In an exercise of inherent contrast , I feature three differences in the Bitar-Lowenthal book that are relevant for Cubans . The first is the purpose . This book is an academic case study based on political life stories in superb combination — with few precedents — of intellectual work and biography . The second is the nature . The variety of characters and stories is built around a shared axis of making a significant difference for the wellbeing of wider communities , running over specific circumstances . The third is that , despite the diversity of historical richness , tradition and culture among countries and leaders , all transitions handled a similar menu of concepts , options and variables that combine in different ways to produce a similar result : the leaders and countries recognize , with certain reluctance in some cases , political pluralism , fundamental freedoms and human rights , the rule of law and free and democratic elections .
A journey through world leadership in geographic and cultural sense Bitar and Lowenthal talked with frontline leaders : Fernando Henrique Cardoso , President of Brazil ( 1995- 2003 ); Patricio Aylwin , President of Chile ( 1990-1994 ); Ricardo Lagos , President of Chile ( 2000-2006 ); John Agyekum Kufuor , President of Ghana ( 2001-2009 ), Jerry John Rawlings , President of Ghana ( 1993- 2001 ); Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie , President of Indonesia ( 1998-1999 ); Ernesto Zedillo ,
President of Mexico ( 1994-2000 ); Fidel Ramos , President of the Philippines ( 1992-1998 ); Aleksander Kwasniewski , President of Poland ( 1995-2005 ); Tadeusz Mazowiecki , Prime Minister of Poland ( 1989-1991 ); Willem Frederik de Klerk , President of South Africa ( 1984-1994 ); Thabo Mbeki , President of South Africa ( 1999-2008 ), and Felipe González , President of Spain ( 1982- 1996 ). In preparing the transition , Cardoso saw the hard core of his strategy in " not cornering the military , but inducing them to come to the process for seeking a way out ". If the matter is to put an end to authoritarian regimes , all we agree that the military do not cede power until an important inner sector perceives that a substantial loss of public support can lead to harmful or uncontrollable consequences . These leaders emphasize how to handle the transfer of power . Leading a government requires a technically and politically well-prepared staff . New responsibilities must be faced in new contexts that should not invite improvisation . Gonzalez , Mbeki and Mazowiecki underline the need to maintain certain staff from the previous regime , because the governance is more complex and requires skills and knowledges that , for obvious reasons , are scarce among the political actors within the democratic opposition . Such staff is important for stabilizing and institutionalizing emerging democracies . It ´ s crucial to understand and promote the process in Cuba that all these leaders consider important to take advantages of the opportunities to advance , albeit partially , instead of rejecting a gradual progress with the hope of reaching a bigger and even total change later . Gonzalez used the expression " get out of the well " — and then Cardoso put it in context — to indicate the importance of gaining in strength and influence before making
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