Page 505 - Essencials of Sociology

478 CHAPTER 15 Social Change and the Environment

For global control, G8 requires political and economic stability, both in its members’
own backyards and in those countries that provide the raw materials that fuel its giant
industrial machine. This explains why G8 cares little when African nations self-destruct
in ethnic slaughter but refuses to tolerate interethnic warfare in its own neighbor-
hoods. To allow warfare between different groups in Bosnia, Kosovo, or Georgia to go
unchecked would be to tolerate conflict that could spread and engulf Europe. In con-
trast, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis in Rwanda carried little or no politi-
cal significance for these powerful countries.
The fourth threat comes from the smoldering embers of the Cold War. While
relations between the United States and Russia have thawed, these countries do not
have the relations one would expect between friendly nations. Each remains suspicious
of the other, reading evil intentions into what the other does. The United States thinks
that Russia wants to invade Europe, or at least take over the satellite nations it lost.
For its part, Russia suspects that the United States may be planning a nuclear attack
(Kozin 2013). When the United States announced that it was going to put a radar sys-
tem and missile interceptors in Poland and Romania in what it calls a “missile-defense
shield,” Russia threatened to attack and destroy the system (Boudreaux 2012). Chill-
ingly, Russia and the United States both cling stubbornly to the right of first strike, the
right to strike the other with nuclear weapons even though the other has not launched
any (Kozin 2013).

The Growing Relevance of Africa. No longer can G8 safely ignore Africa, once a
remote continent but now transformed by globalization into a neighbor. As resources
grow scarcer, G8 is able to see how events in Africa are related to its own well-being.
These global powers are realizing that African poverty and political corruption breed
political unrest that can come back to haunt them. In addition to Africa’s vast natural
resources, including oil reserves that could counterbalance those of the unstable Middle
East, Africa is also the world’s last largely untapped market. Political stability in Africa
could go a long way toward transforming this continent into a giant outlet for G8’s
economic machinery. This combination of resources and markets helps explain why the
United States has raised funds for African AIDS victims and, as in Liberia, Somalia, and
Darfur, has begun to intervene in African politics.
To maintain global power requires To gain and maintain dominance over Africa and to send a not-so-subtle signal to
the continuous development of China, its chief competitor for Africa’s resources, the U.S. government has formed
weapons. Shown here is the Osprey. AFRICOM (African Command). This special command unit of the U.S. Marines
This versatile aircraft lands and takes
off like a helicopter; once airborne, its was “sold” to the U.S. Congress as a “soft force.” It would specialize in humanitar-
wingtips go vertical, and it flies like an ian missions such as bringing medical assistance to Africa (Vandiver 2013a, 2013b).
airplane. The Marines found its humanitarian mis-
sion and its large civilian staff cumbersome
and has succeeded in shedding its softer
side. AFRICOM now proudly boasts of
having changed its focus to one more to
its liking: combat-ready Marines ready to
strike specific targets at a moment’s notice.
AFRICOM has forged relationships with
most African leaders and is training Africans
to fight rebels in their own countries. With
its rapid-reaction, crisis-response units and
its new drones and Ospreys (planes that can
take off and land vertically), AFRICOM
is now “military ready,” and is zeroing
in on groups that threaten U.S. access to
Africa’s resources. Currently, those groups
are Islamic radicals, especially those in
Nigeria and Mali, not surprisingly, oil-rich
countries.