Burkina Faso's New President Proves A Defiant Voice for Political Independence and Self-Determination
Flickers of hope amidst the darkness of imperialism have not been blown out in Africa.
In the face of turmoil and conflict, Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in West Africa, stands as a formidable voice in the ongoing battle against imperialist forces. President Ibrahim Traoré's recent speech at the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg reverberated the sentiments expressed by the nation’s late revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in 1984, emphasizing the sacrifices made by African soldiers against Nazism during the Second World War and the violence Europe inflicted on them in return for their contributions. He also presented a bold stance against being labeled as a "militia," highlighting the manipulation of language by neocolonial forces to undermine legitimate struggles for self-determination.
He also questioned European and American leaders speaking of "human rights" when the West itself has a long history of human rights violations which they then justify with yet more meaningless terms such as “democracy.” Are human rights violations only violations if they are committed by forces that oppose Neo-colonialism? When the West does the same - or worse, as is often the case - is it not disingenuous to label their behavior as necessary defenses in the name of “democracy”? One can call a pig a hummingbird, but it remains a pig nonetheless.
The words of Traoré, the youngest leader in the world, were more than fitting for the summit in St. Petersburg. From the Second World War to disingenuous media narratives to bad faith international agreements, there was certainly no lack of shared attitudes at the summit. Listening to the discourse in St. Petersburg, I couldn’t help but think of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a now-faded political alliance representing a united front of countries from different regions with a shared commitment to their individual political independence, self-determination, and resistance against neocolonial influences.
The NAM deteriorated over time with the growth of the European Union and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, the evolution of BRICS presents space for the creation of a new alliance to serve as the political "North Pole" to the economic "South Pole" of BRICS. It is this concept that will shape the next few articles published on the Shultz Report, in which I intend to dive into what such an alliance could look like and how it might operate around the globe.
Burkina Faso, according to my understanding, means the land of 'high-minded' or 'honest' men. Considering the words of the nation’s young leader, the nation couldn’t be more aptly named.
-The Shultz Report by M. Shultz