Activating terrorists is the West’s solution to African coups.
Azar Mahdavan: Africa is known as a coup-prone continent because there have been many cases where the military of these countries have attempted coups against the ruling government of their country and the leaders of those governments. Although this type of action by the army of African countries has become a long-standing tradition, it seems that the recent coups, especially the Niger and Gabon coups, are more than a coup and the overthrow of the leaders of the governments, and are more aimed at overthrowing the imperialist policies of the Western governments.
The reason for such a claim can be understood from the efforts of the military to completely cut off their country’s connection with France, which shows that the “neocolonial fortresses of Paris” are being conquered one after another. But the question is, will African countries succeed in expelling France completely from their country, and in other words, to what extent will these coups cut off France’s hand in Africa and weaken the position of this country in this continent?
Mehr reporter, in order to analyze the recent developments in African countries, conducted an interview with “Dr. Ibrahim Nasser”, a Sudanese researcher and author, which you can read below:
Recently, we have seen the occurrence of coups, which is expected to continue and we will see other coups in the coming months. What is the reason for these developments in African countries?
After the independence of African countries, about 214 coups have occurred in this continent, among them, the most coup-prone country in Africa is Sudan, and we have witnessed 17 coups in this country so far. Coup d’état has become a tradition in Africa, but the recent military coups indicate the awakening of the people in these countries. This awakening has two important reasons. The first is the society’s desire to increase the level of welfare and dignity, the second reason is the dissatisfaction of the African society with the hegemony of France and America. These two issues have forced the army of these countries to launch a coup.
The majority of people support these coups; Of course, the recent coup in Niger was very different. “Mohammed Bazum”, the president of this country, was a popular figure among the people of Niger. Bazum is of Libyan origin, but by getting the support of some big tribes of Niger, he was able to sit in the presidential seat of this country, but his policy aligned with France caused a confrontation between the army and his government.
Since the national identity, economy, and security of African countries are under the hegemony of France, we call these countries “Francophone”. The leaders of these countries were all educated in France. These countries are dependent on France and separating from France will cost them.
Even in recent years, the leaders of some African countries have adopted a balancing policy; That is, these countries tried to expand their relations with Russia and China along with France. But this strategy was weak and baseless. Because these countries are dependent on France from a security point of view and cannot independently have wide and strategic relations with other countries.
For this reason, separating from France cannot happen so quickly, France has investments in these countries, and separating from this country will be expensive for Africa.
Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso are known as the poorest countries in the world. For this reason, it will not be easy for the military structure to seize power and cut off their connection with France. In my opinion, the process of independence from France should be “gradual”.