ABBAS JUMA—In his memoirs, Charles de Gaulle wrote that France brought civilization to Africa, helped it build nation states and educated the elites, teaching them to act based on principles of human rights and freedoms (and, of course, French interests). At the same time, the founder of the Fifth Republic wrote that Paris was supposed to become a “specially privileged partner” for Africans. In other words, the colonizers wanted to take leave of Africa but preserve their influence over it. This is probably what de Gaulle meant by “privileged partnership.”
FRANCE
-
-
RAMIN MAZAHERI—What an objective view reveals is this: Revolutionary France saw not just one but seven “Coalition Wars” to restore monarchy, privilege, feudalism, torture, inequality, racism and the oppression of an aristocratic elite. From 1792-1815 Europe’s elite refused to make peace with the socio-political advances of the French Revolution, which the French people democratically chose again and again and again. England was the only nation which participated in every war, and it repeatedly paid off other nations to join them.
-
France’s Anti-Pension Reform Protests Follow a Long Revolutionary Tradition and Pick Up Where the Yellow Vests Left Off
37 minutes readMAX PARRY—As the Macron regime’s rule by decree and police brutality only seemed to fuel the insurrection, the unrest further escalated during the summer after a teenage boy of Algerian descent was killed by gendarmes in a Paris suburb. Although the protests have dissipated in recent months, when France has not been plagued by turmoil at home, its influence abroad has waned after a wave of coups within its former colonies in Africa. Macron’s policies have fallen equally out of favor internally and the ongoing civil disorder has made France appear more of a failed state than any of its former overseas territories.
-
Niger sitreps: the situation continues to be fluid as the West’s hold on Africa slips away.
23 minutes readEDITOR—The recent coup in Niger has sent shockwaves throughout West Africa, not to mention Europe and the United States. France was once the colonial power controlling Niger, and still wields tremendous influence over the nation’s economy. But this latest coup threatens all that, especially France’s access to cheap yellowcake to run France’s nuclear power plants.
-
The Nigerian Coup Could Be A Game-Changer In The New Cold War
22 minutes readANDREW KORYBKO—The US and France are jointly waging proxy wars against Russia in Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR) since these states function as their respective regions’ multipolar cores. The West fears that Niger and Chad, its last strongholds in West and Central Africa correspondingly, could follow in neighboring Mali’s and the CAR’s footsteps to create a multipolar corridor across a broad swath of the continent.