Cold War

What is cold war

Cold war began after the Second World War and it was between the two super powers, the United Statessatellite states and the USSR now called Russia. It was an ideological war based on two competing ideologies, capitalism that was supported by the United States and communismsocialism that was fronted by USSR.The battle to seek allies and to spread the two ideologies was worrying since the two fronts tried to sweet talk other states to adopt their ideologies in governance and Africa was not an exception.

Even though the war was not characterized by war, there was a feeling of war and each of the super power were ready to fight one another and as a result, there was a hostile perceptions and formation of military blocs for any eventuality. It was an arms race between the two super powers (Whitcomb, 1998).

Why did the two super powers have to look for allies in Africa
The two super powers were interested in Africa first for economic gain and also to show their supremacy by governing indirectly using the comprador bourgeoisies who could spread their ideologies in different states. It is worth noting that even though cold war was never relevant to Africans, the two super powers had a great interest in occupying most parts of Africa (Whitcomb, 1998).

With the end of cold war, it is still not clear why most of African countries and leaders are still dependant to the western powers as a result of this, China which is the upcoming super power and USA are still competing for allies in Africa up to date. In the past, most coups that took place during the time of cold war were directly linked to the two super powers. For instance, African leaders such as Milton Obote, Hamed Sekou Toure, Gamel Abdel Nasser Patrice Lumumba, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Luis Cabral, Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Marcel and Ahmed Ben Bella, were frequently disturbed by the western powers due to the stand they took concerning the two ideologies. However, some leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Nelson Mandela of South Africa suffered imprisonment as a result of the war (Whitcomb, 1998).

Should Africa be ignored after cold war
It is worth noting that Africa as a continent has been ignored by the western powers since the end of the cold war. Africa is still faced with serious economic, social and political problem that has left the continent poor, dependant and no longer safe to live. For instance, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Chad, the Democratic Republicof Congo, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda are still fighting among themselves and even some states such as Somalia, are no longer considered a state due to unending war among themselves.Eventhough the United State emerged the winner at last, Africa as a continent remained behind in terms of economic growth and social well being.

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