Comment by aguaviva
7 months ago
In other words: The African nations have no agency or legitimate motivations of their own, and are just doing what China and Russia bully them to do. Apparently they don't even appreciate the significance of the military base on those islands. It is left for the adults in the room (Russia and China) to think and operate on such a level.
Of course no one here is naive, and we all know already that external operators have their influence, and (though the commenter provides no evidence) it's certainly possible, likely even, that such influence came into play here to some degree.
Nonetheless, the commenter's phrasing and implicit attitude toward these nations seems weirdly patronizing and, well, colonial.
If the characterization is inaccurate, then say so. If not, this is just name calling and mind reading.
There's no need, because it's essentially what I said already.
For context the entire continent of Africa has roughly the same GDP as the UK.
For even more context, GDP isn't everything.
No but if you don't have a scientific base or money it's hard to be a geopolitical power.
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