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The US needs to wake up if it is to maintain its sole superpower status

December 20, 2022 at 4:06 pm

A General view showing the entrance to the Hong Kong Belt and Road Summit on August 31, 2022 in Hong Kong, China [Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

The race is on for world domination as the superpowers vie with each other for political, economic and military hegemony. The US has been at the top of the pile since the demise of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. Now it is facing stiff competition from the People’s Republic of China. Washington wants to retain the status quo as world leader, while China wants to usurp the title, or at least share it in a bipolar world until it can seize its own monopoly of power.

The fuel for this conflict appears to be the Arab world, especially the Gulf States, and Africa. We saw the US-Gulf-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia recently, which was followed by the Chinese-Gulf-Arab summit, also in Saudi Arabia. The US then held a major summit with African countries in Washington, attended by about fifty African leaders.

This US-African summit was not the first; another major summit was hosted by President Barack Obama in 2014, who invited all African heads of state to Washington. This came after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the “Belt and Road initiative” in 2013, extending from China’s borders in Central Asia, through the Middle East to Africa and its maritime borders with Europe.

China has tempted the countries in the area covered by the initiative — more than 60 of them — and its products and goods have flooded in. Beijing signed many deals and economic and military agreements, and established many infrastructure projects with soft loans. They did so without considering the system of government in Belt and Road countries. There was no talk about democracy, freedoms and human rights, so as not to give the dictatorial rulers in the region headaches and about which the US talks but rarely enforces if it isn’t in Washington’s interests. These undemocratic countries are just like China, having tyranny and the oppression of their people in common. There are no multiparty elections or parliaments holding the leaders to account; and no free media to expose their corruption, or anything like that.

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Beijing is always keen to confirm that it is a strategic partner and a loyal friend, and that it does not interfere in the domestic policies of its Arab and African allies. China did not condemn the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi regime, for example, and has not said a word about the tens of thousands of political prisoners in the Middle East and Africa; it has tens of thousands of its own facing torture on a daily basis. In return, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, which seeks to lead the Islamic world and is supposed to be the protector and defender of Muslims, did not condemn China’s brutal genocide of the Uyghur Muslims. Instead, Saudi Arabia was among 37 countries that sent a message to the UN supporting Beijing and congratulating it on its remarkable human rights achievements. It was thus obvious that the Uyghur Muslim file would not be on the agenda of the Chinese-Gulf-Arab summit.

China has found in its Belt and Road partners a fertile environment for extending its influence around the world. It has pumped tens of billions of dollars into African energy projects, infrastructure and other projects that enhance its geopolitical and commercial interests. The US views this as a challenge to the international order based on rules, undermining transparency and openness, and thus weakening US relations across Africa.

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In truth, the US has been absent from Africa for some time, and it is delusional to think that the keys to its precious natural resources are held by Washington alone; that the US decides who has access. It has been surprised by China and Russia, who are intent on taking control of the keys, and is seeking to minimise its losses as much as possible, with President Joe Biden resorting to a pragmatic policy to attract Africans to look across the Atlantic again and repair the relationship. He has a lot of work to do following the destruction of US-Africa relations by his predecessor Donald Trump who displayed an arrogant, racist view of Africans and belittled them. Biden has done what Obama did, and turned a blind eye to the abuses of democracy and human rights, and prioritised US interests so as not to leave Africa up for grabs between the Chinese and the Russians.

Biden has promised Africa $55 billion of aid over the next three years. The summit in Washington focused on four main issues: energy, commitment to food security, encouragement of agriculture, and investment in improved communications. This US offer was limited and not, as some commentators thought, a temptation for Africa to pull the rug from under the feet of China and Russia. If this indicates anything, it is that the changes in US policy towards Africa are not major, and it is still committed to the same levels as Biden’s predecessors. Perhaps what he said at the end of his summit speech explains this, as he stressed that the partnership purpose is “not to create political obligation or foster dependence but to spur shared success.”

If we compare what America provides to Africa with what China does, we will see a big difference. Suffice to say that the budget allocated by China until 2027, in terms of roads and ports for the new Silk Route to deliver its goods to Europe, and the investment of raw materials for transportation and communication technology in Africa, is around $1.25 trillion. The difference is that the US will provide economic aid and grants, and not “soft” loans like China, the repayments of which are a financial burden on African nations.

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Washington has played the card of supporting the African Union’s request for permanent membership of the G20, in a way that is similar to the European Union. It is an African dream that already includes South Africa. America has also promised to mediate with the World Bank to reduce and reschedule Africa’s debts.

The US is aware that Africa will play a decisive role in global challenges in the future, so it wants to win it over, and prevent a Chinese and/or Russian monopoly. However, has the US provided enough to Africa for it to disengage from China and Russia? Most African countries do not trust American promises and saw no positive results in the eight years after Barack Obama’s term of office, and no resultant diplomatic dynamism. Washington needs to wake up if the US is to maintain its sole superpower status.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.