Chapter4: Globalization and African Conflict
It said to be that globalization caused many conflicts in Africa today. The malfunctioned have free market economies, where big corporations try to discover more profit effect the African economy. Globalization then becomes fatal, setting new conflicts where refusal to capitalism is met with responses that promote Western interest. We see that in example of the French military, former President of the republic of Congo, Denis sassou Nguesso, is against the democratic way of government of President Pascal Lissouba, to protect the French interests. From globalization conflicts came about from states economic strategies are not adapted with political goals. The free markets have been very beneficial to minority groups; yet Western democracy has attracted the poor income majority groups more, putting them in power to resist in holding leadership. The free market and democratic institutions have different aim. And that’s where the conflict arises. These groups are responsible for recent ethnic, religious, and political violence in some part of Africa. We see that the globalization is responsible for many wars during the 1990s. Globalization comes from the control of wealthy nations and showed negative sides to less developed counties. Because of this the strong hatred grew to the Western interest to open terrorism. During the Transatlantic slave trade from the sixteenth century that Africans came to contact into serious trade in slaves with the West. The need of cheap human labor to do cheap to almost free labor in sugar plantations of the growing new world, and the need to satisfy the requirements imposed by the Europeans, majored in conflicts in African continent to themselves for greed of wealth and power. It was unheard for young African men and women to be kidnapped by Africans, Europeans and Arabs who initially roamed communities for slaves. Then later on Arabs and Europeans bought African slaves from Africans warlords that maintained criminal gangs or other type of militias that could affect raid for slavery. This transformed into a gun slave cycle. In where Africans captured their own and traded in for guns. Abolition of slavery came in the nineteenth century, where Europeans did no need slaves in plantations. African labor was needed for mineral extraction and the production of raw materials for European industries and global markets. This was the start of the European colonization. This is when the Europe decided to exploit the African land and resources. Europe forcefully occupied the land and constant bloody wars occurred. Once the continent was taken over they imposed new rules to continue their mission. Some methods they used contributed many of African lives. Examples of Belgian atrocities in the Congo and the German mayhem in the Southwest Africa against the Herero and Nama are brutality that they forced upon these tribes. Innovations in weapons technology have led to the mass production and global sale. The concept of being armed is important to the worlds security because it creates some sort of safety. In the post colonial history of Africa, before the collapse of the cold war, Africans states looked external military help to solve their conflicts. Due to this the large number of ammunition filled from the foreign, mostly former communist or capitalist donors. Foreign Military aid was linked to conflicts that came from the Soviet Union in Eithopia in 1977 during the Ogaden war. Arms sales generate money to industrialized nations and remain potent fixure. This causes African states to start buying off the weapons, as results their neighbors start buying the weapons. Competitions of having most arms are contributed in recent conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, the DRC, and others. African states that are individual warlords or groups who are always armed conflict with