When President Biden announced sanctions against Russia over their February, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he called it a battle of democracy over tyranny. He expected Africa to rally to the US lead.
Unsurprisingly, not one of Africa’s 54 countries as joined US sanctions against Russia. Many are neutral; some even supporting Russia’s war to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion to Russia’s borders and gain independence of Ukrainian Donbas from Kyiv aggression that has killed thousands of Ukrainians there.
Why unsurprisingly? For starters, the US was delusional Africa would follow America’s proxy war on Russia. It’s the US, not Russia that is bombing Africans in Somalia, Niger and possibly others. It was the US, not Russia that supported colonialism and neo-colonialism in Africa to suppress nationalist movements assumed to be led by commies. Even if Marxists were involved, that was none of Uncle Sam’s business. Since 2008, US trained officials attempted at least 9 African coups.
Russia recently convened its Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World conference in which most African nations were represented. Not one condemned Russia’s invasion while some blamed the US and NATO for provoking it. South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa told his Parliament after extensive lobbying by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, "The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region."
What we’re witnessing is a seismic shift worldwide weakening US unipolar dominance. US claims of democracy v. tyranny are ringing hollow not only in Africa, but aside from NATO and a few others, globally. Over two thirds of our 8 billion souls live in countries rejecting US proxy war propaganda.
Instead of sanctimonious, self serving adulations of American ideals, President Biden might consider ending US drone strikes in Africa killing many. Stop bullying African leaders to blindly support our proxy war. Remove our 29 African military bases and bring home the troops defiling Africa sovereignty. No more African coup plotting might help as well. Regarding Ukraine, the US should pivot from weapons to negotiations, end NATO eastward expansion, and support Donbas independence, not sabotage it as they did with Minsk II in 2015.
Any chance Uncle Sam will wise up and do even one of those things? Don’t bet on it. While Africa is "all out" supporting America’s proxy war, America is "all in," blundering down a very unstable, unpeaceful road of its own choosing.
Walt Zlotow became involved in antiwar activities upon entering University of Chicago in 1963. He is current president of the West Suburban Peace Coalition based in the Chicago western suburbs. He blogs daily on antiwar and other issues at www.heartlandprogressive.blogspot.com.
The writer has more brains than some traitorous African leaders who allowed Yankee bases on their soil. And allowed the Europeans to come in to Africa and kill Gadaffi.
I’d say “integrity,” not “brains.” One can be very intellectually smart and still be a sellout, corrupt, and immoral/unethical.
I’d like to see the U.S. do all those things too, and not just in Africa. But the U.S. will cling to its empire as long as it can, so don’t hold your breath. The U.S. has long been considered the most feared country in the world (by the people in other countries, not necessarily their leaders), and the U.S. will eventually become totally reviled by most if not all. All we can do here is to oppose U.S. empire however we can and let the chips fall where they may.
Watch for the BRICS meeting in August that is to be held in Durban South Africa.
Many other African countries will be attending to test the waters to become more intregated with them while lessing their ties to the G7.
Of course they will be trading one neocolonial economic bloc for another one but at least China is willing to throw huge amounts of money at them.
Can we stop trying to regime change for 3 seconds and actually help an African nation develop and win some friends?…
Nope, doesn’t fit with their ideology.
That’s not how the U.S. empire works. China is trying to be an empire also, but they’re doing it in a much friendlier and more helpful way. (The countries being helped by them will eventually see that the help from China wasn’t free, and the debt owed to China will help build its empire.) So there are more benevolent ways to create and expand empire, but the U.S. seems stuck in the violence and threats method.
To be clear, I’m totally opposed to all of this. Countries should be small and life should basically be localized. Nation-states are evil, and the bigger they are, the worse they are.
Blow it out your ass, Ibrahim Traoré!
Blow it out your ass, Évariste Ndayishimiye!
Blow it out your ass, Faustin-Archange Touadéra!
Blow it out your ass, Mamady Doumbouya!
Blow it out your ass, Assimi Goïta!
Blow it out your ass, Yoweri Mussovini!
Somebodies ass must be hurting…
Says someone who believes that anti-war means that Russia has the right to invade anywhere they please.
Says someone who thinks that the U.S. has the right to militarize the entire planet and force everyone to do what it wants.
I would agree that Russia was wrong to invade Ukraine, but the U.S. had been provoking Russia for over 30 years before that, despite warnings from even U.S. experts not to do things like expand NATO eastward. Go kick a tiger then blame the tiger for attacking you, see where that gets you.
yamamanama looks like just another Ugly American. Do what the evil empire says or you’re bad! Probably racist or at least ethnocentric on top of that considering this comment.
Great article but I wish you would correct these TYPOS: not one of Africa’s 54 countries HAS joined US sanctions | independence FOR Ukrainian Donbas
A cynical view of Biden’s premise that there is a choice between democracy and tyranny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA0W0pRqlDI