Arcadia Foundation

Mali may be the boondocks of backwaters, but foreigners interested in oil, drugs, land, terrorists and souls are clamoring for a piece of it.

Krista Kapralos has published an intriguing article at globalpost on Mali, in many ways stuck in a pre-modern era. This sweltering, desperately poor country appears to be one of the world’s most forgotten places. It’s a landlocked African wild west hemmed in by Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania; a place so slow that a sandy lane passes as a national highway and the boys herding goats beside it wave ecstatically whenever a car passes.

A good part of Mali’s problems come from the lack of investment in the country during French colonial times and corrupt governments after independence. In an era of increasing globalization, Mali, along with most African countries, has clearly been left behind.

However it is in this remote setting that the long arm of globalization has begun to dig its fingers in the sand.

Below, Krista discusses the diverse interests from around the world which have begun to raise their collective eyebrows toward the region.

“…Call it a sign of how small the world has become, or how pervasive globalization has spread, but here in the boondocks of backwaters, diverse interests from around the world have begun to seep in. Oil-craving world leaders are searching the Sahara for signs of oil riches deep in the earth. U.S. soldiers wander through Mali’s river port cities each evening after teaching Malian forces how to fight terrorists and rebels who threaten to take over the country’s lawless northern region. And Gadafi, fueled by his desire to become the godfather of the continent, is lavishing mosques, money and aid on the Malian government.”

It will be very interesting to follow the situation in Mali, what defines progress in the region and how the citizenry will be treated during this latest chapter of globalization.

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