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Abstract The battle lines that currently animate politics in Central Africa's autocracies reach well beyond these countries' borders. As Western governments proved their willingness to sanction human rights abuses, Central Africa's autocrats sought to inoculate themselves by using their governments' financial resources to capture policy makers abroad. For recourse, citizens and diaspora communities turned to international judicial institutions, which they viewed—rightly, it turns out—as less susceptible to capture. In response, Central Africa's autocrats have developed new tools of survival. They have launched strikingly professional "image laundering" campaigns, a sustained assault on international law, and private financial institutions that enable sophisticated money laundering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's view on the benefits of global pressure in promoting term limits for presidents in African countries. These include Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi. He also notes the opposition of the public on their efforts in amending the constitution to extend their term.