Institute for Security Studies in South Africa: America must cooperate with China rather than compete with it to maintain its influence in Africa
The Institute for Security Studies, based in Pretoria, South Africa, said that the competition between the United States of America and China will enter the continent of Africa into a new era of tensions that do not bode well, stressing that Washington must search for ways to cooperate with Beijing instead of competing with it if It wanted to maintain its influence in the African continent.
He explained that although most of the countries of the African continent are not part of global value chains; However, external economic challenges and tensions affect it severely.
The institute based its analysis on the era that preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when the continent lived its most violent period since its countries’ independence due to tensions between the United States of America and the former Soviet Union, which It led to the outbreak of intense proxy wars in the Horn of Africa and Angola.
The Institute for Security Studies believes that Africa can no longer be an arena for proxy conflicts, nor a battleground for two competing countries, namely the United States and China this time. Moreover, Russia, not China, is now playing the role of troublemaker in Africa. The escalation of military coups in the Sahel countries, whose regimes benefit from the protection of the Africa Corps (formerly Wagner), does not bode well for the future of the continent.
More importantly, the West faces a whole series of more numerous and powerful critics, a confrontation that can be considered… It is viewed as a confrontation between the G7 and the BRICS. The impunity granted by the West to Israel with regard to the war in Gaza and elsewhere has reinforced the view of the countries of the South that the same standards do not apply to the South and the North.
The institute pointed out that the continent of Africa, despite the size of its population, is considered a major player. Small global. In fact, the continent’s combined economy represents less than 3% of the global economy, and the divergence of its political positions makes it difficult for it to present a common front on controversial issues such as the China-Taiwan file or the war in Ukraine.
He said that the United States of America Over the past century it has been the most powerful country in the world and has been able to promote a narrative that equates development, stability, and progress on a global scale with American values and interests. Many Africans sought refuge in the United States because of the freedoms and opportunities it provided, despite the decline in positive opinions about it.
But the image of a violent crowd descending on the Capitol building in January 2021; It shattered the myth of American exceptionalism, revealing a country torn apart by political divisions. The rise of populism has damaged US soft power. It became clear, at the same time, that its ability to act as a deterrent in the Middle East region, where the situation has become unstable, has diminished.
According to an in-depth study conducted by “The Economist” magazine, British newspaper in May 2022, “No other country comes close to the size and depth of China’s involvement on the African continent.” This is from one side. On the other hand, American trade and investment with Africa is declining, and if the United States wants to maintain its influence on the continent, it must find ways to cooperate with China instead of competing with it.
The Institute for Security Studies said that China is the world’s factory. It is manufactured more cheaply and in larger quantities than any other country, and has flooded the world with affordable solar and wind energy equipment. Fueling the green transition. For many, China is considered a destination for global trade and is responsible for building much of the infrastructure on the African continent.
The institute believes that the draft law presented by a bipartisan group of US senators to renew the “Growth and Opportunity Act” initiative Economics in Africa" For another sixteen years there appears to be an influential American group looking to cooperate with Africa for a long period of time. But the institute warned that the United States of America must use the “Africa Economic Growth and Opportunity Act” In stimulating African exports and not as a tool for economic pressure to achieve political goals.
He explained that many of the ruling elites in Africa are interested in the Chinese economic development model despite the huge population as a means of reducing poverty and unemployment. While they believe that democracy and a free market economy have not brought development.
The Institute for Security Studies indicated that the future of competition will not be over African oil, but rather over African minerals, especially those used primarily in the manufacture of electric cars. The United States of America has become in a bad situation; Because China has already acquired many of Africa’s essential mineral reserves.
The institute concluded that China’s dominant position shows how it is playing on the same playing field (with the United States) but in a different way than the former Soviet Union, and that Its influence in Africa is growing, and many countries on the continent have turned their faces towards the East.
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