Françafrica

Françafrica is the term that refers to the relationships between France and Africa. At first these relationships were described as the support for the economic development of African countries, such as: Ivory Coast – world largest cacao producer -. Close cooperation is thought to have contributed to the Ivorian Miracle of economic and industrial progress.

François-Xavier Verschave is known as the coiner of the term Françafrica to describe the neocolonialism imposed by France to its former African colonies.

Charles de Gaulle – President from 1959 to 1969 – recognized African countries independency in 1960 under the pressure of History. He endorsed Françafrica as a new cooperation between France and the newly independent African countries. However Charles de Gaulle ordered Jacques Foccart – chief adviser on African policy from 1958 to 1974 – to maintain the French sphere of influence for several reasons.

France had interests holding its sphere of influence in Africa to maintain its decisive position in the United Nation council, its access to strategic raw materials – petrol, uranium, coffee, and cacao -, and its role of weapons subcontractor to fight the spread communism in Africa during the Cold War.

François-Xavier Verschave describes Françafrica as an iceberg. On one hand the part standing out represents France as the country of human rights with an unsullied reputation in its relation with Africa. On the other hand the part submerged contains the shameful methods implemented by Jacques Foccart to maintain the state of dependency.

The state of dependency was used to plunder of African countries of its resources and doing so required the control of the politics in former colonies, the fomenting of civil wars, and the assassinations of political opponents. The death toll of the civil war in Cameroon – fomented by the French government – is held to be between 100,000 and 400,000 and does not appear in schoolbooks.

France maintained its occult system through the presence of its army to back up French companies hijacking billions, such as: Elf – French oil company -. Indeed politics misappropriated money, from the huge margins of oil companies, to finance their domination system. The Nigeria Civil War, known as Nigerian-Biafran War, from 1967 to 1970, took place in reality to take over the petroleum sites.

The French government under, Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand, – president from 1981 to 1995 – became a profiteer by instituting numerous money pumps in former colonies.

The Franc CFA is a good example of the type of hijacks that occurred. Indeed France promoted the Franc CFA as a gift to Africa. (“CFA” means French African Colonies). The Franc CFA gave African income an immediate exchange rate into Franc. That being said it became a safe way to extract lucrative African resources.

France raised its political leaders giving them the habits to openly practice corruption. However in the 1990’s a democratic influence rose in Africa enfeebling the former French dictators credibility. The next strategy focused on embittering ethnic groups to stimulate conflicts and access to power, which happened in Rwanda and in Ivory Coast. Niger is among the very few countries that found the parade to overthrow dictators. France obviously denounced a break in the democratic process.

Madagascar is a perfect example of a democratic uprising to affirm the legitimacy of a political leader, in this case Andry Rajoelina. If the people impose themselves in Madagascar, it will bring new inspirations to African countries towards independency.

Reference:
Speech of François-Xavier Verschave: La Françafrique

The Geopolitics of Iran

All the credits of this article should go to Starfor Intelligence Global as I inspired myself from a research article entitled: The Geopolitics of Iran: Holding the Center of a Mountain Fortress, published in July 24, 2008.

Iran recent decision to invest in nuclear energy is undoubtedly part of a bigger project. Indeed to drive out its strategy requires the study of the dynamics that shaped the nation. Geography, topography, petroleum sites, economy, and ethno-religious distribution are the subjects we will go through to base our future analysis of world events.

Geography

Iran is the 17th largest country with 1,684,000 square meters, larger than France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal combined. Long story short Iran is larger than Western Europe. It is the 16th most populous country with about 70 millions people, which is more than France or even the United Kingdom.

For a better representation I will use Iraq and Afghanistan as a benchmark. Iraq’ size is 433,000 square meters with a population of about 25 million people. Afghanistan’ size is 652,000 square meters with about 30 millions people.

Therefore, Iranians are 28% more numerous than Iraqis and Afghans combined and Iran’ size 56% bigger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Topography

Iran natural barriers define its frontiers; mountains surround Iran in the west, the north, and the east. The biggest mountain is the Zagros, which is an extension of the Caucasus.

In the West, Iran and Turkey shares 150 miles of mountainous border. The Iraqi side is increasingly flat, part of the Tigris – Euphrates basin. However the Iranian side gets very steep starting a few miles after the border. The Zagros forms the historical frontier separating Persia and Mesopotamia.

The region in the extreme southwest escapes from the trend. The Tigris and Euphrates join to form the Shatt al Arab. The swampy ground buffers against forces seeking to enter the country along the coast.

In the North, the Elburz Mountains run along the Caspian Sea to reach Afghanistan and overhang the desert of Karakum in Turkmenistan.

In the East, mountains of lesser altitude form a natural barrier with Afghanistan and Pakistan reaching the Arabian Sea.

In the South, Iran has 800 miles of coastline located between the Persian Golf and the Golf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz is the most important and vulnerable port, making Iran an inland power but not a major maritime opponent.

In the Center, Dasht –E Kavir and Dash- E Luth are deserts plateaus supposedly uninhabited and uninhabitable.

Population distribution

As the lowlands are uninhabitable Iran’s population is concentrated in the mountains. Tehran, the capital of Iran, is located in the Elbroz Mountains at 1200 meters of altitude. The majority of the population is concentrated in the West, forming a belt starting from the the Caspian Sea going through the Zabros and Elbroz Mountains reaching Strait of Hormuz. Another concentration center is located in the northeast in the city of Mashhad.

Petroleum

Iran’s oil is its most valuable and most strategic export. Hence, their locations and security are crucial. The major oil fields are located in the southwestern region, which are extensions of the geological formation responsible for the oil fields of northern Iraq. Iran is the 3rd largest oil reserves and is the 4th largest producer in the world. Thereupon one would expect Iran to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but it is not.

Economy

Iran is the 28th largest economy but ranks only 71st in per capita Gross Domestic Product. Apart of the Government inefficiency managing oil, one of the major problems is its geography; in fact Iran has a huge population located in mountainous areas making the spread of the wealth unpractical and almost impossible due to high transportation cost. Therefore Iran’s economy cannot benefit from oil production and exportation in cause of its inefficiency managing oil fields and its population distribution.

Ethno-religions distribution

Due to the mountainous landscape protecting the nation, it is impossible to share a unique culture. Large ethnics groups resist to absorption and annihilation by the Persian culture. Iran is a Muslim state divided between the Shia and the Sunnis and populated by 55 to 60% of Persian.

This cultural fracture is a threat to Iran. Without a doubt one will try to create internal allies to overtake the government. As did the Persian Empire, the Iranian government maintains internal integrity against separatist groups. The ‘‘cul-de-sac’’ shape does not let any back up plan in case of insurrection. It is essential to hold a highly centralized government with a strong security apparatus, using the army to repress instability, to protect the entire structure at all cost.

Geopolitics

Iran is vulnerable from the inside and will not allow manipulations of its internal dynamics. Indeed Iran first action is to maintain secure border to prevent any invasions, then to secure the country internally.

The northeastern region is exposed to Central Asian powers while the western region opening is the most-often used. Saddam Hussein discovered in 1980 that a direct assault through the Zagros is not feasible. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980’s confirmed a reality: Due to modern war practices, neither assaults from Mesopotamia through the Zagros nor assaults from the Zagros to Mesopotamia will prevail.

However manipulating ethnic groups is possible. In the 1950’s The British based in Iraq were able to manipulate internal political division in Iran in order to elevate the Shah. During World War II the Soviets spread confusion in Iran to the point of losing its sovereignty.

The Current Situation

The United-States occupied and placed forces in west coast of Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Iran’s concern is that they will use their positions to manipulate ethnic groups and to foment ethnic dissents. This month Iran captured an alleged member of a Sunni Muslim group fighting the government. He confessed dealing with the United-States, proposing him cooperation, an arsenal, and a base along the border of Afghanistan.

Iran’s strategy counters any attempts by reinforcing its defense. Iran possesses a powerful and repressive security, especially where the oil is located. This explains the British naval boats, which entered illegally Iranian waters in 2004 and the constant flow of information about this area in US news. Then, by manipulating religious ethnic tensions in Iraq and Afghanistan to undermine American positions and by creating a nuclear force publicly in order to deter attack in the long run and enhance its bargaining power in the short run.

References:
Starfor Global Intelligence: The Geopolitics of Iran: Holding the Center of a Mountain Fortress
Al Jazeera: Iranian rebel ‘admits US links’, British seamen could face Iranian court, and Ahmadinejad orders nuclear work