Macron loses Gabon. As China and Russia take Africa in weak France

The coup in Gabon is the 9th Military Revolution of Africa over the last three years. The focus understood why French Africa is now experiencing a rigid crisis and highlighted the differences between the coup in Niger and Gabon, which occurred at intervals of a little more than one month. On August 30, another state coup in the African country took place.

Oddly enough, this is the same - a "another" revolution, which, even unlike the same coup in Niger, especially did not impress anyone and really flashed in the world headings as everyday life. This is the 9th Military Revolution of Africa over the last three years. Most of them took place in the former French colonies. The revolution in Gabon itself is really little different from other African couplings, however, there are certain local features.

In this situation, the context is an important context - and it is that France loses its "Africa. " Former French Prime Minister Dominic de Vilnik even compared the current crisis with the campaign of the struggle for the independence of African states in the mid-XX century. Gabon and Niger are former French colonies rich in natural resources. So there are significant deposits of uranium, manganese and oil in the country (it is a member of OPEC).

And minerals in the country are produced mainly by French companies, in particular the largest local oil operator is French Totalenergies. Gabon, JC Decaux, Rougier, RFI, CMA-CGM, Eramet, Air France, Air Liquide, is also present in Gabon, 81 French company is operating in the country (in total, there are about 110 in the country). Often, they bring with them workers from France, so Gabon has a considerable French community, as well as a military contingent in a number of 400 people.

In general, the country is quite closely related to France economically and politically. In particular, Paris twice (1964 and 1990) carried out military intervention in a country where since 1967 he was ruled by the Bongo - Omar Bongo Dynasty, who was replaced by his son Ali after his death in 2009. These authoritarian rulers maintained friendly ties with the former metropolis both at the political and non -public level.

During the Cold War, many legends about the shadow equipment of the Bongo family with French politicians, business, and special services were spreading. Unlike Niger, Gabon is not in the desert, but in Equatorial Africa, so most of its territory is covered with forests. This allows the government of the African country to earn "green investments".

Gabon "sells" its forests well without cutting down, with no tree, so the country is a frequent participant and organizer of various green initiatives, one of which took place this spring. Then at the Forest Summit in Librevil French President Emanuel Macron declared the completion of France's interference in Africa. However, Gabon opposition took this visit as the support of the current President Ali Bongo.

The country, by African standards, is quite rich - it has one of the largest GDP per capita continent. However, one third of the population of Gabon lives below the poverty. It is not difficult to guess that over the decades of the domination of the Bongo dynasty has grown a whole generation that does not imagine another leader. Bongo in power is almost 90% of the country's independence (Gabon became independent in 1960, along with most African countries).

Also during this time, a generation that was born in a formally free from the French metropolitanate in the state, at the same time fully dependent on Paris, was growing economically. This generation of independent gabon has grown and formed in the conditions of corrupt autocracy.

Therefore, it is not surprising that corruption, autocracy and post -colonial economic dependence on the metropolis in the minds of most Gabonians are inextricably linked to the poverty in which a large part of the population resides. In this wooded equatorial country, unlike most of the Sakhal states, when it comes to a coup, there is no transition from democracy to autocracy, however - whether a military junta will bring democratic changes to this state, of course, rhetorical.

The Gabon military immediately stated that there were no radical review of foreign policy, or, moreover, the rejection of any international obligations, so there is no question of any interventions or significant sanctions against rebels. However, as stated above, an important context. It was after the coup that Gabon began to speak of the final fall of Françafrique - the French post -colonial system, which was formed in Africa after the collapse of the colonial empire.

The fact is that after receiving African colonies of France statehood in the middle of the XX century, Paris remained economically there. French companies continued to control the key natural resources of these states, many of them remained the French military contingents, and the financial sphere remained under the actual control of the French Central Bank due to a number of intricacies (Frank CFA). Also in the region was dominated by French culture.

The cost of preserving this status-quo was the support of authoritarian (sometimes in the case of the "Emperor of the Central African Republic," Jean Bokasse in the true sense of the word cannibal) regimes in these states. From time to time, France punished excessively cruel rulers (the same boxing), and sometimes saved "adequate and effective" (already mentioned interventions in Gabon). Paris became the gendarme of his former colonial empire.

It is clear that cooperation with such colorful personalities has become a wonderful basis for all kinds of legends and corruption scandals, which undermined government authority in democratic France. At that time, the population of these countries lived in extreme poverty. A whole generation of Africans born in independent states has grown up, but could not evaluate all the benefits of freedom. After all, their lives did not pass in conditions of safety or economic abundance.

In fact, they lived in the environment as similar as possible to the Middle Ages. Paris's policy, which was to mitigate the dissatisfaction with the locals through humanitarian missions and facilitate access to visa in France itself. Point humanitarian policy has led to a striking population growth in these countries. This led to the presence of a large number of people who, in the conditions of medieval lifestyle, simply cannot be provided with the necessary material goods.

There is no need to accept everyone in France and will never be able. There has already been a migration crisis in the state. At the same time, the flow of those who want to leave their homeland and settle in the former metropolis is only growing. Point migration has turned the opportunity to go to France into a kind of lottery. This is under a low level of education of the majority of African countries has led to social tension.

It was on such soil in the early XXI century that the Russian Federation and China came to Africa. Russia believed that it was "returning", referring to Moscow's connections with Africa back in Soviet times. In Beijing everything was built from scratch. In essence, the situation of a hundred years ago - the struggle for the redistribution of the already divided world. Only the methods of struggle became hybrid. It is obvious that Beijing and Moscow had to move the former metropolis.

In these circumstances, in view of all of the above, Paris was the weakest link. As it always happens, it all started with the humanitarian sphere. The injection of anti -French sentiment began. It is clear that these propaganda grains fell into the fertile soil. It was the former metropolis and its post -colonial Françafrique system for all the troubles of the local population. And it is worth saying that these accusations were not always groundless.

At the same time, the elites were offered economic cooperation without pressure, including Beijing and Moscow was indifferent to the image of the state leader with whom they cooperated. For the Russian Federation, but rather the more odious ruler - the better, because he has less alternative to cooperation.

This trend has not only swept French Africa, but it has become the most obvious, because most of these states are authoritarian in nature, so cooperation with China and Russia for them is another opportunity to gain investment and access to technology without unnecessary questions, which Increasingly, as civil society was developing in France itself. In the information era, the time of Monsieur Fuquet (Gray Cardinal "between France and its former African colonies in the 60-80s) has passed.

French society did not want to put up with dictators with dictators with the dictators. In such a contrast, more and more allies of France have deepened cooperation with the Russian Federation and the PRC. The same Gabon has almost doubled the intensity of economic interaction with France over the two decades of the XXI century.

However, the final blow on Paris's authority was caused by the operation of "Barhan" - a failed attempt by forceful methods to end the Islamic radicals who tried to destabilize the region. Its failure created a powerful basis for those who wanted to blame France of intentions of neocolonialism, and their troops declare their troops occupying. In the end, the anti-colonial map became the main formal leitmotif of military coups that stirred Africa during 2021-2023.

Both democratically elected rulers and dictators were dumped, but everywhere under anti -French slogans. And France was forced to leave, in particular from Mali - a country that was a pivotal in surgery. Gabon also became a cherry on the cake, because there was an authoritarian government with a rather high standard of living of the population.

Therefore, it turns out that the path of distance from France is also a potential path to democracy (paradoxically that democracy leads a military coup, but in the tropics not such miracles can be found). The confrontation of soft forces was lost at the beginning of the century. In the middle of the tenths, France began to push it economically from her Africa, and now they have done politically.