The West has a long history of intervention in Africa. In fact, some of the earliest foreign military engagements in West’s history took place on the continent. The objectives of these foreign interventions by the West have revolved around the economy, territory, regime change, protection of West’s citizens and diplomats. Some of these interventions are often carried out overtly by the West, while many others are done covertly with the aim of securing Western interests in Africa.
Moreover, there are ample reasons to believe that the West’s is the actor behind the scenes, responsible for many of today’s African crises. Therefore, today, let’s discuss a few of these examples where the West is suspected of having a hand in instigating and aggravating crises in Africa.
The Tigray Crisis in Ethiopia
After ravaging Ethiopia for two long years, the Tigray crisis has recently come to an end following the signing of a peace treaty by the warring sides. During the conflict, Ethiopian forces received support from Eritrea’s army against the TPLF. Following their victory, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki accused the West of supporting Tigrayan rebels in the civil war in northern Ethiopia. He also claimed that the West rushed the peace deal between Ethiopia and TPLF to prevent the rebels from losing on the battlefield.
The Tigray Crisis was created out of thin air, as the West allegedly exploited the minds of the Tigray people to instigate conflict between them and Abiy’s government. The West provided overt and covert support for the TPLF. For example, during the peace negotiations that began on October 25, 2022, in South Africa, the TPLF delegation arrived on a US military plane, along with Mike Hammer, the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa. Such events only substantiate speculation regarding the West’s involvement in instigating the Tigray crisis.
Now that Ethiopia Tigray Crisis is over, the West may still want to maintain its regional influence. US Secretary of State Blinken recently visited Ethiopia, and soon after, the dominant party in Ethiopia’s Tigray region announced its nominee for the President of a regional administration and named its spokesperson, Getachew Read, as the new interim president.
Boko Haram, Nigeria
The West’s intelligence agencies are known for creating troubles and offering the West as the solution. Nigeria, one of the world’s largest oil-producing countries and the biggest economy in Africa, has a lot of importance to the US’s geopolitical goals. To this point, there are reasons to believe that Boko Haram could be backed by the CIA.
In May 2014, African Renaissance News published an in-depth report on Boko Haram to find out whether it could be a CIA operation to control Nigeria. In the report, it stated that the greatest prize for AFRICOM and its goal to plant a PAX AMERICANA in Africa would be when it succeeds in the most strategic African country, Nigeria. Moreover, an investigation into Boko Haram by the Greenwhite Coalition revealed that the “Boko Haram campaign is a secret operation organized by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and coordinated by the American Embassy in Nigeria.”
Boko Haram might be a US project to keep the resource-rich country forever on the boil, which will obviously derail its economic development agenda and require aid and assistance from the West or West-controlled international organizations. This will provide the US with a perfect opportunity to keep meddling and maintaining its influence in the country.
M23-Democratic Republic of Congo
The M23 crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been ongoing for a long time without any resolution in sight. Despite being present in the country for two decades, the UN mission known as MONUSCO has not been able to end the conflict in the DRC and is even accused of collaborating with M23, a terrorist organization. This has led to protests against the UN mission by locals.
The West is believed to have funded the M23 group as part of its divisive agenda in the DRC, with the aim of creating instability in the region. M23 caused tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, with the former accusing the latter of supporting the terrorist group. The US-Rwanda-M23 alliance is also accused of looting the DRC’s mineral resources. However, when African countries joined forces to eliminate M23, the West conveniently blamed Rwanda for supporting the group and attempted to absolve itself of its actions. This caused tension between Rwanda and the US, with Rwandan President Paul Kagame seeking to settle scores with the US and President Biden.
al-Shabaab, Somalia
Furthermore, there are ample reasons to believe that Al-Shabab could be a UN puppet and another excuse for the West to maintain its influence in the African country of Somalia.
We previously informed our readers how Somalia protested against an extended arms embargo. Moreover, Somalia stated that the extension strengthens the insurgent organization’s position of Al-Shabab and sustains the nation’s precariousness.
In fact, US representative Ilhan Omar criticized President Biden for conducting airstrikes against Al-Shabab in Somalia. A politically unstable Somalia only serves Biden’s political interests because a terror-free Somalia would quickly gain membership in important African regional organizations like the EAC. The more potent the EAC, the more influential the African economy would be. Therefore, Al-Shabab is the US’s best bet in keeping the country in turmoil.
These examples demonstrate how the West has, from time to time, used various tactics to maintain its hegemony in Africa. It becomes quite obvious that the West fears a stronger and self-confident Africa and has expanded its influence by taking advantage of Africa’s weaknesses. Moving forward, as Africa diversifies its partnerships and aims for self-reliance, the US is likely to continue using cheap tricks to disrupt the continent’s progress.
Statements, comments or opinions published in this column are of those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Warsan magazine. Warsan reserves the right to moderate, publish or delete a post without prior consultation with the author(s). To publish your article or your advertisement contact our editorial team at: warsan54@gmail.com
