Oil, minerals and the militarisation of globalisation

Spykman took the argument to taking control of the World Island (Africa and Eurasia) by seizing Eurasia’s coastal lands, also known as the Rimland, while in the post-Cold War era, Huntington saw the use of the military to control continents as the perfect way to control global resources.

Batanaziba says events that have unfolded since the creation of Africom confirm that in creating this force, Washington was clearly executing Huntington’s post-Cold War theory.

“In the thinking of Pentagon and White House officials, the world today is too dangerous a place not to be policed by Washington. The establishment of Africom… is being driven by two main strategic concerns: First, the growing demand for African oil and gas...”

Africom has the force of law to intervene in African security because African states have agreed to it.

American geopolitics analyst William Engdahl wrote in November 2008 that the birth of Africom had more to do with a fight for resources than mere security concerns.

Indeed, in a matter of weeks after President George W. Bush assented to the creation of Africom, a new wave of conflict erupted in mineral-rich eastern Congo to pre-empt the major agenda of the incoming Barack Obama presidency.

To focus the US’s military and other resources on dealing with the Congo, the oil rich Gulf of Guinea and oil rich Darfur, as well as the increasing Somali pirate threat in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean waters.

“The legitimate question is whether it is mere coincidence that Africa appears to just at this time become a new geopolitical ‘hotspot’ or whether it has a direct link to the formal creation of Africom,” wrote Mr Engdahl.

This position had been stated by Washington adviser Dr Peter Pham in unequivocal terms in 2007, while justifying Africom’s creation before Congress, saying its purpose was to protect “access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance... a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as India, China, Japan or Russia obtain monopolies or preferential treatment.”

The irony of it is that these countries have enormous resources but they are also saddled with raging poverty hence the dreaded resource curse.

In the thesis, Mr Butanaziba clearly alludes to this failure stated in Uganda’s Oil and Gas Policy 2008.

“The reports of the National Oil and Gas Policy of Uganda indicated that oil and gas are non-renewable extractive resources which in addition to having potentially immense benefits to the country, also pose the challenge of insecurity to the country.”

Clearly, the military option that the west preaches is no panacea for Africa: it has bred havoc in Sudan, left Somalia split along clan lines and reduced Liberia to shambles.

It has not tamed several midlevel powers like France, Libya and Israel that enjoy impunity in their swash buckling exploits in Africa.