EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9, 2023

The Age of Colonialism Is Coming to an End!

Aug. 8, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Ongoing and upcoming events in Africa—in the northern Sahel region and in South Africa—demonstrate clearly that the age of colonialism is coming to an end.

Late last month, Gen. Abdourahmane Tiani took control of Niger in a coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. The coup, one among a half- dozen in nations of the Sahel in the last few years, stands out for the debate it is creating about potential military and other responses. Niger is the source of around one-third of the uranium supply to France, which relies on nuclear power to supply over 70% of its electricity. General Tiani has suspended those exports. Although French President Emmanuel Macron made statements that these actions would not be tolerated, it turns out that there’s not much for France, or NATO, to do.

Some nasty actions are still possible. The U.S. has (of course!) cut aid to Niger, in the latest barbaric application of “sanctions.” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu shut down the electricity exports from Nigeria that were the source of 70% of Niger’s grid electricity. State Department number two Victoria Nuland went to Niger to make threats and demands.

But military operations look to be off the table, at least officially, for now. President Tinubu, who currently chairs the Economic Community of West African States, pushed for military action to reinstate the deposed president, but the Senate of Nigeria nixed that proposal. Burkina Faso and Mali have sent delegations to Niger to express their opposition to any outside military intervention, and the President of Algeria has the same policy.

NATO, which is not getting its way in Ukraine, is not going to get its way (or what it “thinks” it might want) in Niger, either.

Turn now to South Africa, the host of the BRICS Summit to occur later this month. According to South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Naledi Pandor, there are 23 nations that have said they want to join the grouping, and, of the 67 foreign leaders invited to the summit—including all African leaders—34 have so far accepted the invitations, including, just today, President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and President of Indonesia Joko Widodo. In addition to expansion of the group itself, other topics for the summit are said to include the use of non-dollar trade mechanisms and the development of Africa. The summit’s theme is “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.”

President of China Xi Jinping will go to South Africa not only for the BRICS Summit, but for an overlapping official state visit as well. Swelling trade and investment between the two nations points to a prosperous and mutually beneficial future.

When other nations are seen as partners and collaborators, the future potential for humanity truly can blossom.

Is it not time to abandon the hegemonism and malignancy of the past centuries of Western colonialism, and join instead a new world, in which the common enemies of mankind—poverty, underdevelopment—are addressed in achieving our common aims of scientific and cultural creativity and economic advancement?

Such is the vision presented by the LaRouche movement today.