Intervention In Africa:
Still an American Imperative
Over the past several decades, the United States has
often intervened in countries all around the world. The U.S took the responsibility
of involving itself in other countries affairs; through the process of
distributing government aid to countries in need, sending troops and weapons,
supplying with specialists, etc. Thus the U.S.A has emerged as world power on
the global arena. A great number of countries the U.S has interfered in are
located in the continent of Africa. Some argue that the U.S should continue to
stay neutral as it did before the First World War. Others say that the U.S
should continue to arbitrate in Africa. Unfortunately, the countries in Africa
that the U.S is involved in are completely depended on the support from the U.S
and world organizations such as NATO that if the support these countries count
on discontinues; they will simply cease to function as ordinary countries and societies.
Africa’s dependence on the U.S and other world powers may be linked to the
poverty Africa is going through. Poverty is not the only concern Africa faces.
Today, Africa is going through a difficult period of uncertainty, war, diseases
such as AIDS, inflation, radicalism, and other evils known to humans. According
to the article titled “Living On Pennies” written by Davan Maharaj from the Los
Angeles Times, hundreds of millions of inhabitants of Africa live on less than
a dollar a day. Based on the events that are happening in Africa, the U.S has
the right and the responsibility of involving itself in problems and events of
Africa. However the U.S does not have the right to become involved in every
aspect of Africa that Africans themselves can solve. In this discussion, we
shall discuss possible events that shaped the modern day Africa, the reputation
U.S earns from intervening in events that arise in Africa, and how the U.S and
other world powers might be able to assist in helping Africa recover. There are
several events in the world history that have perhaps shaped the modern day
Africa. These events will be addressed in the next segment. When
looking into the history of Africa, one will become amazed at the rich history
Africa has had. Some scientists argue that the human species has started in
Africa. It is in Africa, that the famous ruler of Mali (a kingdom that existed
700 hundred years earlier) Mansa Musa earned a massive amount of wealth. In the
14th century, the North and West African kingdoms had an extensive
trade between each other. The kingdom of Mali was located in the middle of the
North and West African kingdoms. The inhabitants of North Africa had a huge
demand for gold, while the inhabitants of West Africa were in demand of salt.
Both of these regions had what each other lacked. As a result, extensive trade
between these regions flourished. The kingdom of Mali was situated in the
middle of these regions. Thus Mali became extremely wealthy for its unique
location. In 1325 C.E Mansa Musa joined a pilgrimage to Mecca. On this journey
to Mecca, Mansa Musa gave away large quantities of gold to people in need as a
form of charity. It is said that Mansa Musa gave away such a large quantity of
gold, that he depressed the gold market for ten years. The news of Mansa Musa’s
wealth stimulated European curiosity, and mapping of the African continent.
This in turn led to colonialism of the African continent. Generally, the
colonists enslaved most of Africans in one way or another. For example, the
colonist’s heavily taxed the populace of the villages they occupied. Thus, the
resident’s of the occupied villages were forced to do the work the colonist’s
demanded. This happened for several reasons; the first reason is, because the
colonist’s demanded paper currencies that were printed from the countries they
represented. No such currencies circulated in the occupied Africa. Africans
could only receive these currencies from doing the jobs the colonists wanted.
Another reason why the residents of the occupied regions were forced to do the
work, the colonists demanded was because the colonists had superior weaponry, thus
the Africans were left with the threat of being executed if they did not comply
with the colonists. The negative influence of the colonists can be still being
seen in Africa to this day. As a result, the modern day Africa is considered to
be one of the poorest continents on earth. Africa suffers economic inactivity.
In 2006, 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of least developed countries are
in Africa. This startling fact demonstrates the accuracy of the assumption that
the European colonists have devastated the economic activity and growth in
Africa; thus, preventing growth and economic stability. Countries that were
responsible for colonizing Africa and destroying the African economy should be
hold accountable for damaging the economy of the African people. The minimum
these countries could do is to distribute aid to African nations suffering
poverty created from the influence of the colonists of these nations. Over the
course of history, world powers depended on one thing the reputation. The U.S’s
reputation as a nation that is a major world power is slowly minimizing. In the
next paragraph we shall converse about the reputation the U.S earns from
intervening in events that arise in Africa. Most
of the nations, the world has seen, as world powers put a great amount of
energy into gaining a reputation as powerful and fearless nations. Partly
because one of the most important components a country has is its own
reputation. For instance, during 1930’s, in the Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism was
widespread in Germany. However, in 1936, during the summer Olympic Games,
Germany did everything in its power to conceal or justify its crimes against
humanity, anti-Semitism, totalitarian government, etc. The reason for these
swift action’s can only be explained by the fact that Germany wanted to
preserve its reputation as a peaceful society that is not polluted with laws
that target its own diverse and innocent individuals. At this time period,
Germany was going through a major transformation that turned Germany into a
major world power on the global arena. As bizarre it may seem; U.S’s reputation
as a powerful nation that is fearless is declining. On September, 8th 2011, a
poll was conducted that asked people (the people that participated in this poll,
were all residents of USA) if they think American power has declined since
9/11, surprisingly 66 percent of all those who participated in this poll said
that they thought that the power the U.S had before 9/11 is on the decline.
“Overall, two in three (66 percent) believe U.S influence has diminished in the
world over the last decade, and this view is highly correlated with belief that
the U.S over-invested in responses to 9/11,” wrote Shibley Telhami and Steven
Kull, who were at the time the main engineers of the poll. According to yahoo
news, an American multinational internet corporation, the U.S’s power is on the
decline in people’s judgment, both in the U.S and the world. A possible way the
U.S can prevent the decline, can be through intervention in Africa. The U.S can
greatly benefit from intervening in Africa. Intervention in Africa can mean
that the U.S is distributing government aid, supplying with troops and
specialists, and investing. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the U.S will create
a puppet continent. By creating a positive influence in Africa, the U.S will
create political allies in Africa and also prevent U.S’s reputation as a world
power, from declining. Over the past two decades, the U.S has been sending
government aid. It is clear that Africa is still the poorest continent on
earth. In the next section, we shall discuss new ways of strengthening the
African society. About $500 Billion has
been sent to African nations in the form of direct government aid. A small
portion of this amount of money actually went to benefiting the native
population. And a portion of this amount of money disappeared. When looking at
this data, a question arises, where does the majority of this amount of money
go to? Through numerous inquires, the corrupt governments of Africa, invest
this money into making nuclear weapons, adult entertainment, condoms made from
paper mache and pirated CD’s. At the same time, many newly democratic nations
in Africa are stuck with debt run up by totalitarian regimes. In 1996, Africa
owed the U.S $321 billion; the debt represents only the interest. The time has
come for the U.S to stop wasting mega amounts of money on moot methods of
fighting poverty in Africa. The U.S needs to modify its ineffective approach
towards eliminating poverty in Africa. A possible alternative for the
ineffective methods of intervening in Africa that the U.S is currently doing,
can be the process of investing in democratic nations of Africa. To be eligible
for investments from U.S, these nations should be incorruptible. By encouraging
investors in U.S to invest in Africa, the U.S will be able to effectively
invest into Africa. Today most of the workforce in Africa has a cheap labor
cost. The workforce will be ideal for producing products that the West will
use. Africa inhabits a large quantity of minerals and metals that the same
workforce will be able to extract. The process of investing has often been
beneficial for all parties that were involved. Investing in Africa can turn out
to be a major achievement for the U.S, (in terms of economics and humanitarian
aid). The relevance of using the process of investing in Africa as an
alternative method of combating poverty in Africa is an encouragement to
continue intervening in Africa. There is no doubt that intervention in Africa
is absolutely necessary. In the next segment, we shall discuss the importance
of intervening in Africa. Based on
the world events that have shaped Africa into a continent, that is filled with
pain and misery, the U.S has the responsibility of involving itself in the
events that happen in Africa. During this discuss, we have discussed the possible
events that shaped the modern day Africa, the reputation U.S earns from
intervening in Africa, and how the U.S and other world powers might be able to
assist in helping Africa recover; based on the key discussion points the U.S
should take the responsibility upon itself of continuing intervening in Africa.
The U.S rose as major world power during different time periods. If the U.S
will continue to intervene in Africa and start using different methods of
intervention, the U.S will perhaps see another period of time of a golden age
in the U.S and the world. As human beings we are subject to supporting
individuals less fortunate than us. If we follow this principle to justify our
intervention in Africa, we will be rewarded with numerous benefits that were
mentioned in this discussion and a long lasting period of prosperity.
