New Lands to Explore, New Wars to Wage

US started an Africa Command yesterday (see news article). Promises a lot of media excitement in the next 100 years. The Dark Continent is soon going to have arc lights planted across its length and breadth. New oil, new dictators, new puppets, new intrigues, new rogue states, new terrorist masterminds, new operations, new democratisations and lots of new promise for many future US presidents. Like common men need God, politicians need issues. Africa promises loads.

From my scale of global events, India and China are old news. Africa is a timed explosive device that is going to boom anytime soon. It is not just a hinterland for your raw materials, it is going to be a significant market and a strong influencer of world events. I think in another 10-15 years we will stop referring to Africa en masse, and start referring to the individual nations, like, Burundi, Chad or Western Sahara. Depends on who first gets under the benevolent gaze of crusaders of the free world.

African nations are getting rich and smart simultaneously and hence are resisting international arm twisting. For a change, they are looking after their national interests. Oil is pumping money into the veins of African nations. Sudan, Zimbabwe and Somalia have already made names for themselves by mooning US and other western powers. God only knows how much more wealth is lurking in the belly of that dark continent.

China has already set up large field camps which dole out generous aid and take out generous minerals. Indians are thinking. Europeans had cut up the cake and distributed it amongst themselves in the 1900s only. So they have their children playing hide and seek all around the park. Poor Americans are way behind. They never got to become imperialists (they got to play only consumers of trade in 'bonded human workers' from Africa). Now they have an opportunity to make up for it. But you never know...maybe CIA already has plans to lodge Condiben as a Hutu warlord in hotel Rwanda.

US's growing interest in Africa is going to bring a lot of necessary attention to a continent that has been treated like a step sister by rest of the continents. In the end, everything is the same. But there are miles to go before we reach the end. And those miles are going to be littered with exciting milestones. So media companies, start stocking up on arc lights and digicams.

I can see Ladenbhai taking Swahili lessons.