“At the moment, in my view, the greatest danger to peace is apathy. An attitude of mind exists among a great part of the peoples of many of the nuclear powers, or aspiring nuclear powers, that the issue of peace or of nuclear war is a matter not for them but for the politicians, the generals and the technicians. By propaganda, they have become indoctrinated with the idea that the greatest issue in the world today, the survival of the human race, is not a question upon which they can act, but is something which must be left to a small group of supposedly military experts to decide. Such a view is not only untrue: it is immoral. The issue of peace and war in this nuclear age is the concern of every human being, the future of the human race is a responsibility no man or woman can delegate.” Kwame Nkrumah Opening Accra Assembly 21st June, 1962
The global peace movement in general and the Pan-African peace movement must know that the peace and justice movement have but two goals; to end imperialist militarism and to support the right of self-determination of oppressed peoples and sectors. Any other goal serves to mask the interest of capitalism’s control of labor, land and resources. A just peace may be the only thing that can save the planet earth’s inhabitants from self-destruction. Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in service of imperialism since the 1940’s reminds us that this total devastation could happen, not in years, or days but hours. As Fascist leadership grows in Europe, the USA, and Israel the conflict against North Korea takes on a particular meaning for Africa and the Peoples of the Global South.
We must resist this nuclear threat. The United States is the only country in the world that has used the ultimate weapons of mass destruction—nuclear weapons! The US launched nuclear attacks against two of Japan’s major cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of people in one stroke. Today if North Korea is attacked, the devastation is potentially much deadlier, because of technological improvements in weaponry and other instruments of death. Korea North and South, China, and Russia all share land borders and/or waterways.
Any pre-emptive strike nuclear or otherwise will have profound effects on this region. China and Russia may no longer represent the socialist clarity of Mao and Lenin, but they are certainly clear of the geo-political history of the region. China is a signatory to the armistice that brought a pause in the hot war that pitted the east against the west in a war that started out as one of self-determination against Japanese imperialism. Chinese and Russian (Soviet Union) intervention on the side of North Korea represented a clear understanding of U.S. imperialisms desire to control not only Korea, but China and Russia too. The U.S. killed an estimated 6 million Koreans in three years of bombing in North Korea.
Will China and Russia sit on the sidelines and only criticize as they did in Libya without taking any action? Russia has proven in Ukraine and Syria it knows that NATO is the wolf at the door. China has shed blood in North Korea; and they realize any threat to North Korea also threatens their economic interests, regional security, and sovereignty. The growing tension against China in the region from its other neighbors Australia and Japan has to be front and center in China’s strategic thinking.
Africans globally have seen the result of toothless wait and see games driven by narrow economic self-interest. “Super Power” exceptionalism and compromise with imperialism have cost us many lives. The U.S. set-up AFRICOM, an independent U.S. military command base in October 2007 equipped with tactical nuclear weapons aimed at Africa. China and Russia were silent on AFRICOM when voting to declare a “No Fly Zone” over Libya in the UN Security Council. Russia and China remained silent, and spoke up only after AFRICOM conducted missile strikes helping to overthrow the sovereign nation of Libya.(*) The Pan-Africanist Movement has to be front and center in the struggle for peace and justice across all of Africa. We must struggle against the puppet leaders of neo-colonial nation/states that do the bidding of their foreign capitalist imperialist partners. This is what George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, and Sekou Toure understood, and what we must clearly understand; that African people must be self-determinate while building our cooperation with all progressive forces. Just as all nations have their own interests, Africa has to express theirs, regardless of the actions of the US, China, Russia or any other nation. Our challenge is to build a Pan-African Peace Movement from the bottom up, with the support and participation of every African women, worker and youth organization throughout the world. We must challenge the racist, fascist, imperialist forces that murder our youth in Brazil, Britain, Columbia, Somalia, Polisario, the U.S. and Venezuela. This peace and justice movement must heighten the class struggle in our churches, mosques, synagogues and temples to take a stand against unjust wars, exploitation and all forms of injustice. We must expose and challenge all our institutions that collaborate with imperialism. Imperialism seeks to completely control the globe. This is why the U.S. pursues “Full Spectrum Dominance” with nuclear supremacy being part of their strategy.
The nuclear standoff in North Korea represents for Africa a serious threat to sovereignty and the African masses’ aspirations to control of our resources and self-determination. It reminds us that imperialism has an insane willingness to risk all of humanity for its domination of the world’s resources. This is a wake-up call to African people whose continent’s leaders are increasingly cooperating with AFRICOM and NATO.
The All African Peoples’ Revolutionary Party is clear that the foreign military activity in Africa is a continuation of colonialism. We call for all African people and all those who believe in sovereignty and self-determination to support our positive action campaign call for an end to militarism in Africa, including removing all foreign military bases, armies and mercenaries; empowering the people to provide just solutions to Africa’s civil conflicts. The presence of foreign troops on African soil threatens Africans sovereignty and independence. The ending of war in Africa will decrease violence against women and children who suffer the most from civil conflicts, through rape, displacement, kidnapping, and force labor. The ending of military conflict will provide more resources for fighting hunger, disease, healthcare and illiteracy.
(*) for additional information on military expansion in Africa and the world
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