JuneFall

Thank you for posting that, really makes me feel at ease for not having backed numenera.

Totally.

The first people I met that were vegan, trans, queer and used pronouns and also were internationalist intersectionalist (yes all of that at the same time) were punks in squats, who were poor, not seldomly drop outs (from school or in general) and most did not have rich or even economical okay parents. That was in the 90s-early 2000s.

But it is too hard for our Dr. Engineering to use words like they, fuck off.

Thanks I hate the term now.

Not sure if that is a bit or not.

You do also think that the US stays monolithic hegemomial due to the dollar game, while the multipolar world doesn't come to fruition. I do think that if industrial capacity somewhere else is destroyed then other places will get to the forefront, this doesn't have to be the USA.

I wonder if your conception is a bit too focused on nationalism in the USA and ignores the internationalist/financial pressure pressure for low wages and control over people's body more than is currently possible in the USA outside the prison industrial complex.

Nigeria for example is a huge country that will grow quite well for the next decades till the effects of climate change will make it much harder to live there, which will bring lower agricultural output with it and the instabilities caused by climate change, political instability (according to OP's text etc.). Could be - just like Mexico or special development zones in the USA be used for cheap labour. Which Awoo did hint at in another comment (that just because labour due to isolationist economy is more needed, doesn't mean it will immediately win).

I would also ask what degree of separation from the dollar you think is possible with oil/gas and gold which are convertible in foreign trade quite well. So my question would in addition be what are the fundamental texts or competencies of yourself you use to draw for your outlook (don't dox yourself though).

Lets try for 50 years more!

Okay, now your point sounds more reasonable. There are plenty of people who think that the US is controlling everything everywhere and that isn't the case (too incompetent for that as we did see in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan). That said, there is a gap between controls something completely and had actors involved in something. That is why I question you. Thanks for the rolling stone link.

The Flintlock exercises do take place yearly in the region since 2005, a few thousand military professionals, often from higher ranks and special operation units partake in them. 30 out of up to 54-ish African countries partake in them. This means that up to 30k people did partake in it in the last 20 years. That is not a low number.

Since coups only happen - in lieu of a civil war / clandestine organization - from within the military / state security forces this means that naturally people who coup will have partook in those exercises (no matter their content). As the people doing the coups will be close to bases of power, have high rank or be part of special units. This is true no matter what content the exercises do have.

It also helps to know how the US teaches and how other countries react as this enables you to know how the counter-coup will be done. During those exercises you do talk about counter insurgency and how to shield vulnerable centers, which of course is helpful in couping, too. Most of the content is pretty basic though and not that deep.

US exercises do regularly (see also Jakarta method) lead to human rights violations by military personnel taught: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Combined_Exchange_Training#Controversy Your article also mentions some.

Though I want to underline that there is a difference between torture schools, like the School of Americas in the USA and its successors and similar institutions which are only teaching torture and military exercises which are much more short term, less deep and have another focus.

What do you mean by that?

Do you mean that the military and police officers are trained in the US, even those doing the coup-ing?

Do you want to imply that the US pulls the strings (against a french aligned African ally that is neoliberal)?

Ondimba

Is/was the prime minister of Gabon for the last 15 years or so (even after a stroke in 2018). Before that he was part of his father's political circle and had positions assigned to him on the level of ministers. His father Omar Bongo (who you might know better) was "ruling" Gabon since 1967. The power of the family is significant.

The ruling party after his father's demise was a centrist right party with many elements of neoliberalism and some verbal alignment to pan africanism. During the last election and also this election quite a few people are angry about possible election interference, this the military uses as justification (along with a couple of other things, like breaking the power of the ruling family etc.).

Fun tidbit:

Allein der Präsidialetat Bongos verbraucht jährlich 8,5 % des gesamten Staatshaushalts (Stand 2009), wofür Bongo US-Ermittlern zufolge mindestens seit dem Jahr 2000 ein Geheimkonto bei der deutschen Citibank nutzt.

Just the presidential budget amounts to 8.5% of the whole state household in 2009. US investigators claim that he uses secret accounts for that, at least since 2000 an account of the German Citibank.

The USA is a totalitarian police state which utilizes terror against even mild critique (as could be seen here). Also shown is the usage and threat of tasers and extreme physical violence even if the other people aren't physically resisting.

:acab

The militarization and what imperial, colonial powers do in the periphery falls back into the core once more. In addition to the methods used against indigenous or BIPoC in any case.