With the growing threat of Islamic terror and control in the Africa, Foreign Minister Sall of Senegal spoke hoping for help from China, as the Africa-China summit is underway this week. Islamic militant forces have been widely active and growing in west African countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, neighboring Senegal, and on the other side of the continent as well, in Mozambique. This is all despite numerous different western forces working to keep the peace such as the French military, EU, and UN forces. This ask for help from China from Senegal comes directly after a visit from our own Anthony Blinken visited Senegal, hoping to further solidify already strong relations. I analyze this as a mild change of pace for Senegal for a variety of reasons away from the United States, and the West, towards China. Firstly I think countries such as Senegal are seeing that despite years and years of fighting combatants in a variety of means, western powers have not been as successful in this arena as the Senegalese may have expected them to be, largely from our own disinterest, and in their own realist view see that the security of their country is existentially at stake and they must make a change. Secondly, one must keep in my the recent climate summit recently in analyzing this move by Senegal. Senegal is a proportionately shockingly high producer of emissions looking to increase that in their own industrial expansion to benefit their economy. Western countries were united in a total fight and repudiation of fossil fuels at the climate summit, while China was heavily in defense. Sall’s comments also come concurrently with their PM explaining the grave consequences of the phasing out of fossil fuels. I do not then see it as a surprise to now be much more warm in crisis to the Peoples’ Republic. To relate this to IR will be quite entertaining as I do not believe I have had the opportunity yet to write on this simple term: realism. Senegal is clearly operating under the terms and ideas that realists view the world under, doing so entirely “rationally” for their own self interest, as is believed in realism, to be what everyone does. They did not have a life blood relationship, wedded to the idea of standing with America, and when their own national security is at risk do not have a problem going to American competitors for help if they feel western aid will not guarantee them. This can also, once again, be linked back to the fossil fuel discussion as well, as realism applies not only to security, but also, and arguably moreso, to economics and business.
