When African Leaders Visit Moscow

Welcome to the new multipolarity.  President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni made some interesting comments during a visit to Moscow this week:

President Museveni, currently on a visit to Russia, has criticised the arrogance of western countries and their “imperial” aggression in Africa, calling it a “big mistake”.

Singling out the violent ouster and subsequent killing last year of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, Mr Museveni questioned why the West ignored African Union proposal then of a negotiated settlement.

“Is it on the account of increased power; is it out of panic on account of the gradual loss of global leadership or is it on account of determination to access new resources in order to postpone the gradual receding in terms of global leadership?” he asked. (…)

 At the Moscow lecture, Mr Museveni condemned “hegemonism and imperialist practices”, insisting the pace and effects of changes in Libya would have been less disruptive had the West listened to the AU. “Incompetent and bombastic” Gaddafi and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, he noted, had given way for Western arrogance and boldness because the slain leaders failed to organise a “structured people’s war and maintain cohesion of the aggressed people.”

Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for 26 years, has long been considered a staunch U.S. ally on security issues.