At least the ban on ivory saved one species in Africa - the Elephant. Between 1974 and 1976 Portuguese technicians withdrew, this combined with the civil war severely disrupted the economy. Cuban authorities took the initiative by filling the deficiency with their technicians. This war takes on similar characteristics to the ageing civil war in Ethiopia, a regression in the economy, a fall in the standards of human rights, and the starvation of the people on political grounds. Until these waring factions get together around a negotiating table and peacefully work out a solution, Angola will tread a path along a downward spiral, its people moving ever onward into oblivion and inevitable self-destruction.
Progress requires change, and change requires resources.
Many of the greatest innovations throughout history have come from unknown sources. Complex ecologies show us that nothing can remain static without disintegrating, all systems and societies must adapt to the present environment and cannot re-enact history and expect past sucesses to persist and past ideas to suffice. The environment in which we live is constantly evolving. People learn, animals adapt, bacteria mutate, nature fluctuates. The effect of all these changes is to alter the fitness ratings of the options available to us.