Originally posted by Pete D:

Take out the nukes and those words could describe a number of African countries, yet nobody seems to care about those the way they do about the ME, why is that?



Oil is the foremost reason, but in addition to that, Africa is such a patchwork of anarchy, disease, ignorance, supersticion and willful hatred that for the most part, it's a self-perpetuating implosion. Outside a handful of countries, political systems in Africa have a half-life of months it seems.

Furthermore, most countries in Africa are hardly a threat to anyone but themselves in terms of military capability. It takes some resources and a degree of internal stability for a country to become an threat that those on the international stage worry about; most countries that have little to no national unity and next to no developed resources are usually dealing with numerous pockets of aggresors that want control over what little wealth there is...

There are places in Africa that are ripe to move on from the quagmires of despair that many have become, but there are many that are just too far gone right now.

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