The population "nobody" cares about

[Bengalzona]

(06-26-2016, 07:30 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: They aren't our neighbors, they aren't at war with us, they don't look like us...

^This.

Our public generally doesn't want to know what is going on Africa. They see it as a dark, dirty continent filled with disease, murder, rampaging man-eating animals, starving and vicious black people, etc. I suspect even Antarctica is a more popular media place in America than Africa. That's not going to change overnight.

But to their credit, the policies started by W. Bush and continued by Obama are taking hold. Indirect nation-building assistance where the populations themselves lead the process is proving successful and is the blueprint to the future. 

The biggest problem there right now is radical Islam in the north. A lot of nations in central Africa have mixed populations of Muslims and Christians. They are walking a tightrope. They want to crack-down on the extremists while at the same time not alienate the Muslim portions of their populations. Also, how effective can your military be at fighting extremists in a particular religion when half of the people in the military are in that religion. 

The other big problem is political corruption. That's gonna take years to deal with. You never really can get rid of it, just get it to a more acceptable level.