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fresh, shiny produce? Famine-ridden Ethiopia." Photo by Nancy MacDonald
Rather than gradually colonizing a country, and eventually taking over its administrative control, a quick land grab with 100 year long contracts is the third wave in securing territorial influences. Here is a depressing article in Macleans (Canada's current affairs magazine) describing how China, India and countries in the Middle East are leasing land in African countries, including Ethiopia, for such long periods.
This strange, new "scramble for Africa" now involves "Second World" countries who have trouble feeding their own people, and need additional land elsewhere to grow the necessary crops.
Even the most cynical observers of 19th and 20th century colonizations will agree at some point that the colonizers left something substantial on their departure: educational systems, courts of law, language proficiency, irrigation and transportation networks, and much, much more.
What will the Chinese (and others) leave, in this 21st century wave, since their own populations are in such need? This is probably the most under-reported of the Chinese "outsourcing" story, and even Macleans is more supportive than not. "One non-European country helping another," is probably their angle. To liberals, all non-white countries are the same. And by supporting their outrageous endeavors (even if it means killing each other), it is just another way for these liberals to stick it to their white, non-liberal, racist and ethnocentric opponents in their own white countries. The ultra-liberal Macleans (what else can it be, it's Canadian?) is proving this point of view with its ambiguous, non-judgmental (towards all those third worlders) article. Of course, the target of our outrage should really be those countries' leaders who have decided to "lease" these precious lands for what is essentially a permanent sale.
The full article: "What’s the new global source for fresh, shiny produce? Famine-ridden Ethiopia" is available here.