Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:07:36 +0100
United States Moving into Africa's Nile River Basin: Securing Central and
Eastern Africa via the Nile River
by John Stanton
http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverStoryPictures2/27565.jpg
<http://www.globalresearch.ca> Global Research, November 10, 2011
"Rivers are political systems. Management of rivers is political and
management of international rivers is very political. The Chinese got it
right long ago: River + Dyke = Political Order."
Dr. Abdul Malak Ouda, writing for the Egypt State Information Service in
2002, foresaw <http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Story.aspx?sid=2860> the economic
and military competition that would come to pass on the African continent
between the G20 powers. Once again, the countries of Africa find themselves
serving as sort of a soccer pitch for the matchup between the world's most
powerful countries. United States' political, economic and military
strategists have set their sights on the Nile River Basin (and Nile River)
and the 11 countries of Central and Eastern Africa (and Egypt to North). The
US instruments of national power (finance, military, intelligence,
diplomacy) will be applied heavily on the countries and the people of the
Nile River Basin.
"The power and influence of African countries, seen as individuals or as
groups, is measured by the strength of their relations with the outside
world. The military strategies of such big powers as the US, France,
Britain and Belgium require a naval presence in African waters, as well as
troop stationing on African ground. An answer should be found to the
question of whether there is enough elbow room for Egypt to move, caught as
it is between the US and France in competition over influence in Africa. In
terms of national security, Egypt's African agenda should be divided into
regions of concern. The first such region should include Libya and Sudan;
the second the Horn of Africa along with the region south of the Red Sea,
comprising Somalia and Djibouti; the last, though not the least, is the Nile
basin stretching well into central and east Africa. With the growing US,
European and Israeli involvement in the Nile basin, Egypt now faces serious
problems in Africa, particularly that the US stands opposed to a central
Egyptian role in Nile-basin countries or in the Horn-of-Africa region.
A new set of rules has been introduced which govern trade, investments and
competition in Africa's now open markets. The competition between France
and the USA in the fields of trade, investments, culture, education, and
arms sales has sharpened to a razor's edge. New African English and French
speaking pressure groups have emerged creating links with European
countries. Changes have been introduced to Israeli policies, whereby the
country now works under a US umbrella; concentrating its activities in
certain African countries. Africa is in the position of a satellite region."
That competition will be most fierce in the Nile River Basin region which
involves 11 countries: Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and
portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania,
Kenya and Eritrea. The Nile River Basin countries are expected to increase
their collective populations to 654 million in 2030. In 2005 the population
figure was 372 million according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations.
Chinese Know Everything
David Shinn, Adjunct Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs,
George Washington University, speaking at an AFRICOM sponsored conference,
echoed American national security strategy/practice which sees water,
infrastructure, and agriculture as sub-systems in an overarching national
and global system of US national security.
"The problem of water cannot be separated from other security issues in the
Nile Basin countries. Water contributes to conflict but has never been the
sole reason for major conflict in the region. Water scarcity is the single
biggest threat to food security in the region and the countries in the Nile
Basin have increasingly been unable to meet local food requirements.
Conflict is most likely when a downstream riparian is highly dependent on
river water and is militarily and economically strong in comparison to
upstream riparian's. This describes the situation between Egypt and upstream
riparian's."
David Grey, Sr., Water Advisor, and Claudia Sadoff, Lead Economist, in a
briefing titled The Global Water Challenge, put a fine point on the fact
that water is political. "Rivers are political systems. Management of rivers
is political and management of international rivers is very political. The
Chinese got it right long ago: River + Dyke = Political Order."
In spite of the best efforts of the continent's Nile Basin Initiative
<http://www.nilebasin.org/newsite/> , the political and national security
challenges for the Nile River Basin countries are extraordinary. Making
matters worse (according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations', 2011 State of Food Insecurity in the World) for the 11
countries of the Nile River Basin is the harsh economics of globalization.
"Small import-dependent countries, especially in Africa, were deeply
affected by the food and economic crises [of 2006-2008]. Some large
countries were able to insulate themselves from the crisis through
restrictive trade policies and functioning safety nets, but trade
restrictions increased prices and volatility on international markets."
The 11 Nile River Basin countries on the African continent have the greater
misfortune to be the site where the USA will stake its claim to the Central
and Eastern portions of the African continent (including Egypt in the North.
The USA intends to check Chinese interests in Africa while at the same time
pursuing its interests with or without the remaining G20 countries. Like the
USA, all G20 members have slightly different visions of how they intend to
exploit, and extract from, the African continent. The capitalist systems and
practices used by all G20 countries demand exploitation and extraction so
the methods used should not cause anyone to wince at their brutality;
particularly given their recent military and economic actions in Yemen,
Iran, Libya, Iraq and Bahrain, for example. So no matter how many times
each G20 country employs the words peace and cooperation in their press
conferences or strategic publications, the hard reality is that the fallout
from the brutish competition will be scorched earth and human suffering.
In a world obsessed with violence, occupying space, and securing natural
resources and material things, global and national security casualties these
days are as much economic as military. In 2011, loss of employment, benefits
and prospects for living well is a form of torture; being vaporized by a
Hellfire missile from a Predator is a quick merciful termination. Either
way, the end result is the same.
In a world where nations actually cared for their people, truly cooperated
and sacrificed some measure of national self-interest, human suffering would
be minimized. That this is a radical statement is absurd.
And it is absurd to know that the people of Africa are going to suffer yet
again as they find themselves reluctant hosts of economic and military
competition between the non-African G20 countries.
It's Not the Economy Stupid: At Least Not Yet
According to information from the CIA's World Fact Book and the US Trade
Representative's data, the 11 Nile Basin Countries were not significant
trading partners with the USA; at least not yet. In fact, according to the
US Census Bureau, the only African country on the continent listed as one of
the top 15 US trading partners was Nigeria (US trade rank 12, for oil).
The CIA Fact Book, which broadly reflects US foreign policy, depicts nearly
all of the countries of the Nile River Basin as unstable, undemocratic,
economically insecure, managerially inept and highly corrupt. Border
disputes and displaced populations are the norm. In terms of trade,
according to the US Trade Representative's Office, US exports and imports
(US trade rank) to/from the Nile River Basin countries in 2010 were largely
insignificant: Egypt (US trade rank 47), Sudan (US trade rank 157), South
Sudan (not available), Ethiopia (US trade rank 98), Uganda (US trade rank
149) and portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (US trade rank
105), Rwanda (US trade rank 175), Burundi (US trade rank 189), Tanzania (US
trade rank 138th), Kenya (US trade rank 102) and Eritrea (US trade rank
220).
Given the small trade numbers, why is the USA making the big push into the
Nile River Basin?
Viewing a map of the African continent it is easy to see how the Nile River
serves as a geographically perfect line-in-the-sand that American
strategists and tacticians can utilize for geostrategic plans and operations
in the Central and Eastern blocs of Africa (to include Egypt). The Nile
River stretches from Egypt in the north to Tanzania in the south through
Central and Eastern Africa. Arguably the Nile River Basin has Africa's most
valuable resource: fresh water. Lake Victoria, one of the largest fresh
water lakes in the world, is located in the Nile River Basin. Lake Victoria
belongs to three countries; the northern half to Uganda, the southern half
to Tanzania, and part of the northeastern sector to Kenya.
There are numerous other interconnecting lakes, rivers and streams in the
Nile River Basin (including rail and river transportation systems).
Moreover, The Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean are
accessible to and from the countries of the Nile Basin.
The Indian Ocean is the world's third largest ocean. According to the CIA
Fact Book, "It provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa,
and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy
traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the
Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to
the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets
from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean,
mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped
in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and Western Australia.
An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the
Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer
deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India,
South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand."
One of the Nile Basin countries may lend some of its geography to the newest
geographic combatant command AFRICOM. It will not be long before AFRICOM has
some sort of Bagram Air Base location in the Nile Basin region. Such a US
military base will house USSOCOM-SOCAFRICA and CENTCOM units (Egypt remains
in CENTCOM's AOR). The Nile Basin provides the perfect operational
environment for the US Navy Brown Water Riverine Forces and USSOCOM Special
Boat Teams. American special operators and CIA paramilitary forces will
roam up and down portions of the Nile River and its Basin (and already are).
Defense and non-defense contractors stand to make a fortune as the USA makes
its economic and military move into the Nile Basin region which has become a
focused concern of US national security.
President Obama's recent deployment of 100 American soldiers to support
Uganda's internal defense in its fight against the Lord's Resistance Army
(made up of many child soldiers) was clearly a statement and challenge to
China and other G20 competitors: the USA is staking a claim, drawing a line.
US national security interests exist within the Nile River Basin and the
Nile River. The move has begun in earnest.
"Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular
rainfall, small deposits of copper, gold, and other minerals, and recently
discovered oil. Uganda has never conducted a national minerals survey.
Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels,
armed gangs, militias, and various government forces that extend across its
borders; Uganda hosts 209,860 Sudanese, 27,560 Congolese, and 19,710 Rwandan
refugees, while Ugandan refugees as well as members of the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) seek shelter in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo's Garamba National Park; LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages
across the border." (The CIA Fact Book)
Perhaps the new nation of South Sudan will house AFRICOM's version of Bagram
Air Base. Who knows? Some African country will. Everyone has a price.
Ultimately, though, it may be that the USA and the rest of the G20 pay the
heaviest price. No matter the version of capitalism-Asian, American,
Turkish, German, British, Arab, et al-its success depends on creating and
destroying, exploiting and extracting, costing and pricing and commodifying
human existence and everything associated with that reality. The system will
eventually digest itself like a cancer in a globalized-interconnected world
where cooperation and sustainability within and between nations, tribes and
communities is nothing more than theater.
The world has been warned about this before. Here is Leon Trotsky from 1926.
"The world struggle for oil between England and America has already led to
revolutionary shocks and military clashes in Mexico, Turkey, and Persia. But
tomorrow's newspapers will perhaps inform us that England and America have
arrived at a peaceful collaboration in the domain of oil. What will this
mean? It will mean an oil conference in Washington. In other words, England
will be invited to take a more modest ration of oil.The United States, you
see, lacks many things of which others have no lack. In this connection
American newspapers have published a map showing the distribution of raw
materials over the whole globe. They now talk and think in terms of whole
continents...
Americans think in terms of continents: it simplifies the study of
geography, and, what is most important, it provides ample room for robbery.
And so, American newspapers have published a map of the world with ten black
spots on it, the ten major deficiencies of the US economy in raw materials:
rubber, coffee, nitrates, tin, potash, sisal and other less important raw
materials.But American capitalism is no longer self-sufficing. It cannot
maintain itself on an internal equilibrium. It needs world equilibrium.In
military art there is a saying that whoever moves into the enemy's rear in
order to cut off, is often cut off himself. In economy something analogous
takes place: the more the United States puts the whole world under its
dependence, all the more does it become dependent upon the whole world, with
all its contradictions and threatening upheavals.
Already today, revolution in Europe means convulsions in Wall Street;
tomorrow, when the investments of American capital in European economy have
increased, it will mean a profound upheaval.In order to maintain its
internal equilibrium the United States requires a larger and larger outlet
abroad; but its outlet abroad introduces into its economic order more and
more elements of European and Asiatic disorder.We know that when its own
skin is at stake, American capitalism will unleash the fiercest energy in
the struggle. It is quite possible that all that books and our own
experience have taught us about the fight of the privileged classes for
their domination will pale before the violence that American capital will
try to inflict."
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security
matters. Reach him at cioran123_at_yahoo.com
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