Inside Africa
Select ONE of the following questions to answer. While your opinion is crucial, it is also necessary that you are able to support these opinions with facts; these ‘traceable, accurate’ facts may be from class handouts, readings, class documentaries, personal research, and prescribed References.
Mali:
In late 2012 and early 2013, the West African country of Mali, which is rich in high-grade yellow-cake Uranium, saw an American-educated and US-trained army captain stage a coup d’état that deposed the country’s democratically-elected President. Following the coup, the UN (United Nations) General Assembly requested that the new Malian leadership develop plans for a military mission to re-establish control over Mali’s uranium-mine-rich northern region. Describe how Mali’s situation has become “Africa’s Afghanistan.” In addition to the preceding question, explain how Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb hijacked the Tuareg Rebellion shortly after it began near Timbuktu. Explore and explain, in the context of French military intervention, why France and the West chose to deploy ground and air combat forces into Mali under the guise of “terrorism.” It is also critical that you explain how the recent civil war in Libya and the ongoing conflict in Niger acted as catalysts and conduits to the bloody events in Mali, as well as how President George Bush (Junior) promoted the ‘yellow-cake uranium’ story as an excuse for his invasion of Iraq.
Nigeria:
The majority of sweet crude oil imported into the United States comes from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country (third largest supplier after Canada and Mexico), which is located in West Africa. The government is currently embroiled in a vicious undeclared civil war with Boko Haram in the north, and it is facing a coordinated destabilization attack. There is little doubt that this is a proxy war to achieve a shift in loyalty; the reasoning is simple: To gain a financial advantage. Describe how Nigeria’s role in Sierra Leone, as well as their growing trade partnerships with China, have both resulted in the country being thrown into systemic chaos and a state of civil war. How and why are the seven sisters allowing Nigeria’s domestic oil refining capacity to deteriorate while removing fuel subsidies, thereby opening the door to de facto plundering by dollar-rich Western multinationals? Explain how China’s growing role in Nigeria has drawn the IMF deeper into the structural adjustment demands of Nigeria’s international debt, as well as the predatory capitalism of Vulture Funds allowed to thrive.
Sierra Leone (SL):
Sierra Leone is located in West Africa. Its Civil War in the early and mid-1990s was the epitome of Economies by Other Means, and was a stark, real picture of what Africa’s Wars, Poverty, and Conflict Minerals have come to mean to both the West African people and the multi and transnational business conglomerates of the Industrialised World. It is clear that post-colonial Africa’s legitimacy crisis is fueling an endless cycle of violence, fueled by agenda-driven groups, governments, and, more importantly, the arms trade and Wall Street stock brokerages. Describe the unavoidable Sierra Leonean spiral into mayhem that began with the diamond market’s demand, the De Beers Corporation’s waning global influence, and its need to reclaim market share. Also, explain how the needs of resource markets will continue to fuel civil wars, mercenaries, and back-room governmental deals in West Africa, resulting in continued war and instability. You must consider the impact that Sierra Leone’s complex social and political factors had on the outbreak of the war, which was funded by diamonds and bauxite.
Resources
http://raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/ancientamerica.htm
http://www.trinicenter.com/kwame/2011/2903.htm
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=S%2F1999%2F1257&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False
https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/05/16/sudan-from-conflict-to-conflict-pub-48140
