Day 5 of the week long challenge

In today’s insight, I will be explaining a crucial and important statement uttered by a distinguished and respected scholar, Professor Olurotimi Timeyin, during his presentation at the ICAD conference. He stated, and I quote “World War III will probably occur from the West in Europe. However, African countries would feel the heat and the consequences of the war in many aspects.” At first, I paused when I heard this statement, and then I deeply reflected on it. After some moments, I remembered that one of my lecturers in the Department of History and International Studies, Dr. Balogun or Dr. Oluwa Fatoki, had earlier mentioned a similar point during a classroom discussion. Consequently, I made up my mind to research some factors that could lead to World War III, in addition to its possible effects on African countries. Undoubtedly, it has been observed that many states are involved in ongoing conflicts across the globe, which makes the international system highly conflict-prone. To broaden this point, the major European powers and their allies are largely centered in the West. The West, especially the United States and its NATO allies, dominates global military and political power, using these powers to influence other states and to protect their dominance and survival in the international system. These European powers constantly challenge one another in an attempt to weaken each other’s systems and reduce each other’s influence. Such rivalries could escalate into a global war involving their allies and former colonies. This is because these European powers possess nuclear weapons, global military bases, and advanced technology and intelligence systems. Any major confrontation among them could escalate into a world war. In this regard, African countries would likely feel the heat of such a war because African mineral and natural resources would be exploited to facilitate the war. This could lead to pressure, internal conflicts, and external interference, which might distort African economies and cause environmental displacement. It is a well-known fact that Africa possesses critical resources that would be needed for warfare and modern technology, such as oil and gas, uranium, gold and diamonds, and rare earth minerals used for weapons, electronics, artificial intelligence, and satellites. Furthermore, African countries serve as strategic military and geopolitical locations for European and global powers. Africa has important sea routes, foreign military bases operated by countries such as the United States, France, and China, as well as strategic ports and airspaces. In the escalation of World War III, these areas could become strategic military zones, making Africa experience the war’s effects through infrastructure disruption, environmental degradation, high poverty levels, and food insecurity. The escalation of World War III would also have significant economic effects on West Africa in particular, due to the interconnected nature of the global economy. If World War III starts in the West, there is a high possibility that global trade will collapse, oil prices will rise, food and commodity prices will increase, and inflation and unemployment will spread. This would greatly affect African economies and societies because they depend heavily on Western markets, foreign aid, and international trade. Be that as it may ,The key point to note is that even if African countries are not directly involved in the war, it does not guarantee that they will not suffer its consequences. Their suffering could include economic shocks, fear and insecurity, increased poverty, corruption, and political instability.

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