Libyan analyst Hafed Al-Ghuell believes that Africa is distancing itself from the West due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and that Russia and China are using this to gain influence.
“Africa is distancing itself from the West because of Gaza and for many other reasons, including slavery, occupation, colonialism, immigration. But people look at what’s happening in Gaza and it undermines people’s trust in this rules-based international system,” he told Lusa during a visit to London.
Hafed Al-Ghuell is currently the Executive Director of the North Africa Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Prior to this position, he was a consultant specializing in monitoring the economies and politics of the Middle East and North Africa.
Al-Ghuella said the Gaza conflict “exposes lies” and is causing many people, including Africans, to question the rules-based international order that upholds human rights, civil rights, refugee rights and humanitarian law.
“People are now asking: what happened to all this against someone like [o primeiro-ministro israelita Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government? Why did the United States and Europe impose sanctions against Russia and not do the same with Netanyahu? People are not stupid,” he warned.
This analyst believes that “the tipping point has already been passed: the US and the West as a whole have lost Africa” to Russia and China, which are “more effective due to their transactional policies.”
“They don’t give us speeches about human rights and democracy. Basically they say: I do this for you, you do this for me, and I don’t care about the rest. Russia does not have the money to financially Influence Africa, so it uses military power. Most African countries are indebted to China because no one wants to give them good financing anymore,” he explained.
Al-Ghuell states that Russia recently established a naval base in Libya, which poses a threat due to its proximity to Europe, and continues to expand “in parts of the world that have traditionally been European and American spaces, such as North Africa and southern districts.” Sahara, Africa.”
In April, the governments of Sao Tome and Principe and Russia signed military-technical cooperation agreements that include, among other things, the stationing of warships and aircraft on the archipelago.
Recently, Angolan President João Lourenço expressed a desire to “strengthen” historical friendly relations with Russia, a country he intends to visit in 2025.
“Russia needs all the friends it can have, because it is under very tough sanctions and is trying to get around them in every possible way. The more allies it has, the better its position will be,” the Libyan analyst emphasized.
Hafed Al-Ghuell warned of the risk that the results of the European Parliament elections, which elected a majority of right-wing MPs, will drive the two continents further apart over the issue of migration.
“European politicians are using this as an image issue. They play on the idea that the tougher they are, the better,” he complained.
However, the analyst calls on European countries not to approach the problem only from a security point of view, but to do it “rationally.”
“The world needs to deal with this problem, whether we like it or not, because it will grow. Climate change, instability, the search for economic opportunity are moving around,” he emphasized.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.