French troops were just recently thrown out of a lot of Saharan Africa, I’d say within the past 5 years. That has left a power vacuum filled by a mix of Islamic terrorism and Wagner mercenaries from Russia. In my opinion, the French were thrown out at least in part due to their refusal to come to full terms with their colonial past.
That said, I live in a glass house. I live in the US, the epicenter of attempting to ignore your colonial past. Shit, it’s more like a colonial present.
Being asked to provide security isn’t necessarily imperialist in my mind, e.g. Blue Helmets come to mind. Doesn’t mean you should give anyone a free pass, but Africa is particularly vulnerable to exploitation through its natural wealth and colonial past hence present poverty.
French troops were just recently thrown out of a lot of Saharan Africa, I’d say within the past 5 years. That has left a power vacuum filled by a mix of Islamic terrorism and Wagner mercenaries from Russia. In my opinion, the French were thrown out at least in part due to their refusal to come to full terms with their colonial past.
That said, I live in a glass house. I live in the US, the epicenter of attempting to ignore your colonial past. Shit, it’s more like a colonial present.
Yes, for they were asked to buy the Russian backed governments who got to power by coups.
Not particularly imperialist to just get up and leave.
Fighting against extreme Dschihadist forces could also be considered good/fine.
It’s imperialist to be there in the first place. The Russians were so successful because everybody hated the French that much
Being asked to provide security isn’t necessarily imperialist in my mind, e.g. Blue Helmets come to mind. Doesn’t mean you should give anyone a free pass, but Africa is particularly vulnerable to exploitation through its natural wealth and colonial past hence present poverty.