Yea, good points, it remains to be seen if the push for socialism/nationalism in those countries is a) genuine and b) will actually work and not just result in a situation where the old thieves are replaced by new thieves.
Putin is […] pushing the anti colonialism narrative everywhere in West Africa. It is working to an extend.
It paints a very favorable picture of President Traoré (from a socialist, anti-imperialist viewpoint, really stuff that I find interesting and support, worth a read), but then:
On July 29, Traoré had a private meeting in Saint Petersburgh with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In their talks, the Burkinabè leader praised the Soviet Union for defeating Nazism in World War II.
Like, I cannot even imagine the awkwardness of that moment … 🤦♂️
Maybe he just had no other friendly things to say, who knows, but it’s also possible that he fails to understand that modern Russia is NOT the Soviet Union.