The Council on Foreign Relations published a piece last year, which is basically telling all the old Sovietologists what they want to hear. It’s not a serious academic work at all and doesn’t even pretend to be from a balanced point of view.

But considering what the Council on Foreign Relations is, it’s the best they can come up with. As influential as they are, their ideas are strictly by the book and completely unoriginal.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/russias...int-africa

Please refrain from posing cartoons, off topic personal photos, insults, and other extraneous information in this thread.

Here’s some Russian propaganda from Australia’s largest broadcaster that explains all of the beefs Frances colonies have, how they make virtually nothing from the extremely valuable uranium in Niger that supplies most of Frances electricity.


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-26/w.../102765352

As usual, western sources…

The Carnegie Endowment wrote a nice piece about why Russia is so heavily invested in the Global South, like the Sahel region, how that relates to BRICS and more.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/02/28...-pub-89135

Another Moscow supported think tank lolololol

We get it. You love Russia. Combine them into a single thread or find something else to talk about.

Economically, Russia is not a powerhouse in Africa: less than 1 percent of the country’s foreign direct investment goes to the African continent, and its $18 billion in trade with African countries lags far behind the United States’ $64 billion [PDF] and China’s $254 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. However, accessing valuable natural resources, such as gold, diamonds, uranium, and oil, remains a priority. And amid increasing global demand for the inputs necessary for alternative energies and advanced technologies, Africa’s vast reserves of critical minerals motivate Moscow’s efforts as well.


This is going to be a big problem

(02-01-2024 08:54 AM)shere khan Wrote:  Economically, Russia is not a powerhouse in Africa: less than 1 percent of the country’s foreign direct investment goes to the African continent, and its $18 billion in trade with African countries lags far behind the United States’ $64 billion [PDF] and China’s $254 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. However, accessing valuable natural resources, such as gold, diamonds, uranium, and oil, remains a priority. And amid increasing global demand for the inputs necessary for alternative energies and advanced technologies, Africa’s vast reserves of critical minerals motivate Moscow’s efforts as well.


This is going to be a big problem

Well, a big phenomenon, but I don’t see a problem. Africa is desperate to deal with anyone but the US and Europe, so all China and Russia have to do it keep the door open. The St Petersburg Summit last year had reps from nearly all African countries attending. The monopoly is pretty much broken now, though some final strings remain to be snipped.

The days of unchallenged supremacy over Africa are long gone for the West. It will be interesting to see what kind of a role BRICS ends up playing with countries which may not be members/ready for membership, but have aligned interests.

But you’re right, Russian and African economies don’t mesh well. They export a lot of the same things. However, Russia has plenty to sell there, so having a foot in the door will ensure an increase in turnover.