Uganda, Sept. 29 -- If you are shot in the face with a rubber bullet during a protest in Kampala, it is likely the projectile was manufactured in South Africa, but paid for by 'Western' taxpayers.

That is a harsh summary. Many Western taxpayers have never heard of Uganda. Even fewer know what their "foreign assistance" is spent on. And assistance, say by the Europeans to the justice, law and order sector, was meant to improve the rule of law, not undermine it.

Yet that smack in the face would illustrate how poor foreign policy design can lead to unwelcome and unintended political consequences - and explain why the West now finds that it has to take the gloves off in trying to manage relations with the Ugandan government.

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