Africa Dbq Analysis

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When European nations colonized Africa and partitioned it through the Berlin Conference, the partitions that were created often split up friendly tribes, while combining other hostile ones. After Europeans decolonized Africa, there was a power vacuum that led to an overall lack of proper governmental systems. Today, Africa still remains disjointed following many conflicts, such as the Rwandan Genocide. Thus, loose national controls and lack of access to modern resources have, and will continue, to impede growth in the developing world. Within the Global South, especially Africa, weakened national control has proven to be detrimental to growth and stability for populations. Since African countries attained independence from their European …show more content…
Moreover, in places, such as the Congo, leaders of African nations have been found to abuse their power. Specifically, Mobutu Sese Suku syphoned his nation’s wealth following its independence for himself (Document XII). Furthermore, Suku also syphoned foreign aid to Congo for himself. Also, according to the International Monetary Fund, African nations have received a combined total of approximately two trillion dollars in foreign aid since 1960 (Document VIII). However, due to a lack of effective vector for distribution, this money has not played as large of a role as it could have in driving Africa towards modernity. Not only has this led to a degradation in overall quality of life, but it has stifled economic …show more content…
For example, the AIDs crisis throughout Africa can be partly attributed to a lack of access to medical resources to protect and treat infected individuals. International programs such as President's Emergency Plan for AIDs Relief (PEPFAR) have attempted combat this epidemic, however, they have continuously faced cuts from global nations, as they combat their own economic and political struggles (Document IX). Moreover, often large portions of the developing world lack infrastructure that the rest of the world has in abundance. For example, Gulvera, Pakistan, a village had received electricity just six months before a visit from William Easterly (Document II). Along with this, the developing world has often remained isolated from the information revolution of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. An example of this would relate to Document VII, which displays a group of villagers in the Central African Republic charing cellular devices in 2014. Often, this has led to a degradation in education and access to technology. Throughout the history of the developing world, there has been a lack of education. For example, when Congo became independent around 1960, there were only fifteen college educated individuals in the country out of 15.3 million (Document X). This has not improved dramatically since then, as only 59% of the