Why Has Africa Been Left Behind?
On September 28, armed military personnel fired rounds of live ammunition into a group of protestors in Guinea. 157 people were reported dead, eyewitnesses reported rape, and now the leader of the country fears for his own life. These are the kinds of events that, had they occurred in various other places in the world, would be publicly denounced by all other nations, and result in threats like sanctions or military intervention.
Why has this massacre not received the type of public attention it should? Because it occurred in Africa, a continent that the rest of the world has almost entirely forgotten.
An event like this in the Middle East or Latin America or Eastern Europe would elicit concerns over “the stability of the region” and the effect it would have on the rest of the world. Africa, with the exceptions of Egypt and South Africa, has been generally ignored by other nations since World War II. It is international interest groups and the African Union that play the biggest role in Darfur. In the 90s, a horrific war engulfed Rwanda, yet serious international intervention never occurred. Africa has been left to fend for itself, and the consequences could be severe.
Obviously the issues are complex (perhaps even more so than in the Middle East). There are feuds between religions, but also between tribes. When European colonialism began drawing lines, they often split land that was previously unified or gave certain areas to other rivals. There can be no easy solution to these types of issues, but the international community has systematically ignored them.
Now the issues could grow worse. There is the threat of a military coup and rule in Guinea. Two Islamist groups are battling for control of Somalia, an already unstable country. Sudan will likely erupt into war again in 2011 when the south holds a vote on secession from the north.
It was instability that allowed al-Qaeda and the Taliban to thrive in the Middle East. Fortunately, firm governments limited their growth to only a few countries. Africa is quite different. The African Union has not been able to hold certain countries to their pledge of troops to help in Darfur. Many African governments struggle to provide the means of survival for their citizens. Africa is resource rich in certain areas, but desperately poor in others – a trait that makes many places prime targets for the relocation and bribes of terrorist groups.
Despite al-Qadhafi’s insistence on African solutions to African problems, this is simply not the best course of action. Guinea itself is a difficult case. France has threatened to freeze aid to the country, but Guinea has a variety of other pools of revenue from other organizations not tied to specific states.
Still, the struggle can start here. It has to start somewhere. Unfortunately, with all Obama seems to have on his plate, the U.S. doesn’t seem to be a prime candidate for leading the way. Russia, back on the scene of world power, would be a leading candidate to undertake this task along with several other European countries. But something needs to be done before things get worse. Whether or not democracy is contagious, stability certainly is.
Demosthenes
