The Importance of Africa to The World System After 9/11 Attacks: War on Terrorism or Integration for Sustainable Development

4.2.3 The impact to the other regions in the world as a curse;

The increasing competition for oil and gas resources of the major world powers, makes the US and Europe to become increasingly dependent upon Africa Gulf of Guinea for their oil and gas supply as energy demand increases due to rising competition from china and India. In his book, untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s oil, Ghazvinian gives a historical account of external influence, taken keen interest in Africa Gulf of Guinea region as an oil producing region. In December 2000, the National intelligence council, CIA think tank published a report that declared ‘’sub Sahara Africa will play an increasing role in global energy markets’’, predicting 25% of north American oil import by 2015 coming from west Africa gulf of guinea according to a secretive energy task force put together by US vice president Dick Cheney report ‘’ West Africa is expected to be one of the fastest growing sources of oil and gas for the American market’’, bringing groups of politicians, strategists, lobbyist under the umbrella of the African Oil Policy Initiative Group, preaching the message the gulf of guinea was the new Persian gulf and be made a strategic priority of the US even to the requiring an expanding military presence(Ghazvinian 2007,p.88-9).

The impact of the Gulf of Guinea on the security of the other region is far reaching, as it has revived old rivalry between the major powers. With the end of the Cold War, the French policy makers questioned the American leadership. French German and British policy makers agreed after the dominant role played by the US in the Bosnian conflict to create an independent military capability for the EU separate from NATO, and US control ( Volgy et al 2004), the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocols has been denounced by the G7 members states. Even Japan resisted US hegemony in the global political economy to the extent of seeking cooperation with China in an alternative financial structure to the IMF in Asia (Bergsten 2000). Disagreement between the major powers predate the Cold War, France refused flight over privileges to the US warplanes attacking Libya. Again during the Iraqi war, the French foreign minister argued for a new world order based on multipolarity , while the German foreign minister noted ’’A world order in which the superpower decides on military strikes based only on its own nation’s interests cannot work’’(The Economist 2003:27). The US drive for the creation of zone of influence making the Gulf of Guinea as a priority of the US national security is in direct opposition to the French and British interests of colonies as reserves for their national interests.

This might lead to the consequence of scarce resources alliances between the energy rich Russia and China in energy deficit thus introducing new sources of instability in the balance of power in the world or reviving the unlikely Sino-Soviet alliance of old.