That's basically what I'm alluding to. You can't expect people to respect you when you're always coming from a place of docility and weakness. Libya right now is a failed state, with different types of militants running around there. Is the whole continent too weak to at least show some force for the first time in history and do what's right? They're still waiting for the white daddy to tell them what to do and this clown is talking about dialogue and sending aids. Like WTF? And that's the same clown who said Angola has a formidable military. The jokes keep writing themselves.
I'm tired of the whole continent. You sit on all kinds of resources. Can't make adequate use of these resources to better the lives of the people. Can't run countries. Can't protect people. Etc. So what's the point of having these countries since most of them are of no use?
It's complicated because of the leaders they have AND what they accept from their leaders.
In the past there were a few who were determined to fight the West (Lumumba being one example). Look what they did to Zimbabwe.
You need someone with a long term view like the ruling Chinese or some like Mahathir.
"During Mahathir's tenure as Prime Minister,
Malaysia experienced a period of rapid modernisation and economic growth, and his government initiated a series of bold infrastructure projects. Mahathir was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and fending off a series of rivals for the leadership of UMNO. However, his accumulation of power came at the expense of the independence of the judiciary and the traditional powers and privileges of Malaysia's royalty. He deployed the controversial
Internal Security Act to detain activists, non-mainstream religious figures, and political opponents including the Deputy Prime Minister he fired in 1998,
Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir's record of curbing civil liberties and his antagonism towards western interests and economic policy made his relationships with the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, among others, difficult. As Prime Minister, he was an advocate of third-world development and a prominent international activist."
But you can only work with what you have to work with. If you took over Zimbabwe today you would have to get the people to understand and to become stakeholders in your vision. That's difficult because you would have an under-educated, under resourced population who would be with the best will most likely incapable of providing the resources and support needed to ride the international buffeting that any disobedience to the West might bring.
As a minimum Africa could do a better job of exploiting the following..
1. Resources
2. Chinese attention and support
3. The West's need for new markets and cheap labour (brit.).
and I agree they should band together to protect their people abroad.
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