AFRICA: A Constant Battlefield of Great Power Rivalry

Year 2020, Volume: 22 Issue: 1, 74 - 97, 08.05.2020

Buğra Sarı

Abstract

This study examines the objectives and motivations of
three different episodes of great power rivalry in Africa. The second half of
the 19^th century witnessed a competition between European powers in
the brutal partition of Africa by acquiring colonial territories, called the
“scramble for Africa”. During the Cold War, the continent became one of the
battlefields of the global East-West confrontation between the United States and
the Soviet Union. The current great power rivalry in Africa is now taking place
between China and the US. Since the 2000s, China has had extensive economic
investments, intense educational, cultural and political interactions, and
growing military ties in Africa that threatens the US global hegemony.
Analyzing these three eras of great power rivalry in Africa, the study reveals
the different underlying dynamics and features of each era, including the
different strategies that great powers adopted to achieve their objectives
within each era.

Keywords

Africa, China, European Powers, the US, the USSR

Büyük Güçlerin Sürekli Bir Mücadele Alanı: AFRİKA

Abstract

Eldeki bu çalışma Afrika kıtası
üzerindeki farklı dönemlerde vuku bulan büyük güçler arasındaki mücadelelerinin
amaçları ve motivasyonlarını ele almaktadır. Bu noktada, 19. yüzyılın ikinci
yarısı “Afrika talanı” olarak adlandırılan Avrupalı güçlerin Afrika’yı
sömürgelere ayırarak parçalama yarışına sahne olmuştur. Soğuk Savaş döneminde
ise kıta, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ve Sovyetler Birliği arasındaki küresel
Doğu-Batı mücadelesinin bir muharebe alanı haline gelmiştir. Kıta üzerinde hali
hazırdaki büyük güç mücadelesi Çin ve ABD arasında yaşanmaktadır. Nitekim 2000’li
yılların başından itibaren Çin’in Afrika ile büyüyen ekonomik, siyasi ve kültürel
ilişkileri ABD’nin küresel hegemonyasına meydan okuyacak boyutlara ulaşmıştır. Çalışma
Afrika kıtası üzerinde geçmişten günümüze bahsi geçen bu üç büyük güç
mücadelesi dönemine odaklanarak, her dönemin kendine has özelliklerini ve bu
dönemleri şekillendiren büyük güçlerin amaç ve stratejilerini ortaya
koymaktadır.

Keywords

Afrika, Çin, Avrupalı Güçler, ABD, Sovyetler Birliği

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