Because I can't tell whether:
we should just critically support them only for their role in inducing multipolarity and anti-imperialism, a la Russia, due to their shitty domestic politics
or
we must support them further in depth, for their inherently socialist and progressive politics, like Burkina Faso under Sankara, and modern day China.
This is not to say I won't at least give critical support to this nation.
P.S. If you can, could you answer same question about its modern allies, current Mali and Burkina Faso.
It remains to be seen whether they are socialist or not. The important thing is that they are trying to ensure that their countries' wealth is not plundered for free by the imperialist bloc. If you read about how much France relies on Uranium from Niger vs. how many Nigerien don't have access to electricity it is pretty harrowing.
"The important thing is that they are trying to ensure that their countries' wealth is not plundered for free by the imperialist bloc. If you read about how much France relies on Uranium from Niger vs. how many Nigerien don't have access to electricity it is pretty harrowing."
I can see that... how about Burkina Faso and Mali? They had more years to introduce themselves since their coups, don't they?
It will probably take longer. Mali coup was in 2020 and Burkina Faso's was in 2022. They don't have very many allies. The imperialists are at their throat along with the ECOWAS. Any sweeping changes could incite sanctions at best and military intervention at worst just as they threatened Niger with one last week.
I am not sure what the blueprint for establishing sovereignty looks like in their scenario with how deep the talons of Francafrique go. But I'm willing to give them more time before coming to any judgement.
I realize my folly right here of asking their politics right now, during such hard times... makes me seem a bit ultra-left...
From an article by Vijay Prashad:
Discarded populations with no real political platform to speak for them, these communities have rallied behind their young men in the military. These are “Colonel’s Coups”—coups of ordinary people who have no other options—not “General’s Coups”—coups of the elites to stem the political advancement of the people. That is why the coup in Niger is being defended in mass rallies from Niamey to the small, remote towns that border Libya. When I traveled to these regions before the pandemic, it was clear that the anti-French sentiment found no channel of expression other than hope for a military coup that would bring in leaders such as Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, who had been assassinated in 1987. Captain Traoré, in fact, sports a red beret like Sankara, speaks with Sankara’s left-wing frankness, and even mimics Sankara’s diction. It would be a mistake to see these men as from the left since they are moved by anger at the failure of the elites and of Western policy. They do not come to power with a well-worked out agenda built from left political traditions.
I guess I must be extremely mistakened, to think anti-colonial sentiment implies beyond that, an strong ideological sentiment.
Reminds me of how trade-unionism is not necessarily social democracy, in the classical sense...
I mean it's worthy of discussion, imo labels like "ultra-left" aren't really important unless they apply to an org. Talking about the news online isn't a place where it matters all that much.
I genuinely think we don't have a way to tell right now without reporting direct from Niger. All we've got is their rhetoric.
How about Mali and Burkina Faso, the latter of which had a popular ML figure, Thomas Sankara...
Sankara is long dead. I wouldn't look to him a indication of the current state of BF.
Yeah, but he has some major influential legacy on the country. I think even the BF's leader has taken some notes from him. Here's some info on that: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/07/30/burkina-faso-ibrahim-traore-sankara-imperialism/
