Almost two decades ago the iron curtain fell in Berlin. It had ever since the end of world war 2 been represented by the Berlin wall which was a manifestation of a bi-polar world.
Almost two decades ago the iron curtain fell in Berlin. It had ever since the end of world war 2 been represented by the Berlin wall which was a manifestation of a bi-polar world.
The reunification of Germany represented the end of global communism which was followed later by the end of communism in the Soviet Union and the subsequent fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The Soviet Union had been historically the seed bed of left wing politics. The end of the global dominance of the Soviet Union and its subsequent collapse saw many leftist governments in most of the third world either collapse or abandon leftist ideals and oratory.
This was accessioned by many factors but chiefly the fact that their Soviet Russian God fathers could no longer stand by these regimes in times of crisis or for regime survival.
The practical thing for these leftist politicians was to adopt free market reforms and abandon socialism as a form of production and political ideology.
Most of the third world had been led by leftist politicians who had exhibited a greater deal of nationalism than those who were perceived to be pro- West, like Felix Houphet Boigny of Ivory Coast.
However with the turn of the twenty first century, a number of left-wing politicians have boldly risen to power and others who had always been mildly leftist have in recent years upped their leftist ideology.
This would have been unthinkable in the early nineties. Left wing rhetoric and governance had remained in Cuba where Fidel Castro had for so long stood alone in the face of the western powers that he regards as imperialists.
What has led to the emergence of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and not to forget the rabble stirring Muhamood Ahmednejad in Iran among others?
What is clear is that all these leaders are popularly elected by the masses and espouse anti- Western ideals that were historically considered anathema in view of the fact that most of them are running governments in the western hemisphere, the United States own backyard.
So can one safely conclude that the era of globalization that followed the triumph of western capitalism over communism served only to disillusion the masses in most of the third world?
Evo Morales and Daniel Ortega defeated government and political elite that are pro multinational and had heavy backing from global capitalists as represented by multinational organizations.
Morales and his rise to power is a representation of the masses capacity to rise against a government that was only representing the interests of multinationals who have become the embodiment of globalization in modern times.
Morales rise to power begun when he took over leadership of his country’s Coca growers union and has ever since assumed office, taken drastic steps to nationalize vital sectors of the countries economy.
He has also publicly announced the end of imperialism and neo liberalism which are the manifestation of globalization in the world.
Morales’s administration in Bolivia is a replica of what Hugo Chavez has done in Venezuela ever since he undertook to nationalize the countries oil production thus removing it from the American companies that had taken them.
Nicaragua’s Ortega has also been historically opposed to western influence even when he was President in the 1980s in his first administration.
What is apparent is that these leaders were able to defeat left wingers in democratic elections because of the failure of western capitalism in most of the third world.
Globalizing forces as represented by western multinational interests failed to reconcile their profit oriented enterprises of third world life and the aspirations of the people earning a living and maximizing profits.
By voting out governments that have relations with western multinational interests, the people of those countries have rejected globalization as it does not serve their interests.
So will this new wave of left wing triumph in the third world spread its wings into Africa?
Apparently this is a manifestation of the fact that as many people in the third world continue to understand and appreciate the fact that economics influences politics and vice versa, then the masses including those in Africa will be voting into office governments that represent their economic aspirations and hopes rather than those of global forces like multinationals.