A sweeping intelligence review released in Australia has declared that a “major global war between superpowers” is now a realistic threat—not just theory. While the Western world scrambles to recalibrate its security posture, Africa must reckon with a more dangerous question: will this continent become collateral in a new Cold War?
The Australian report warns of increasing hostility between the United States and China, growing military cooperation among authoritarian states, and systemic failures in global diplomacy. This isn’t just Western paranoia—it’s a global shift in alliances, trade, and power structures.
In Africa, the signs are already present. Chinese naval expansion in Djibouti. U.S. drone bases quietly spreading across the Sahel. Russian military influence rising in the Central African Republic and Mali. And all of it under the guise of “partnership.”
Let’s call it what it is: militarized competition for African influence.
African nations are once again being viewed as strategic assets in a war not of their making. But unlike the 20th century, Africa has agency—if it chooses to exercise it. The time has come to reject passive alignment and build a pan-African geopolitical doctrine rooted in non-alignment, regional solidarity, and sovereignty-first diplomacy.
Africa cannot afford to be the ground zero of someone else’s war—again.
