The Scramble for Africa
Darfur-Intervention and the USA
By Steven Fake and Kevin Funk
Black Rose Books
$19.99/£13.99
301 pages, pb.

You may have seen the signs Save Darfur Now, and many other organizations all with good intentions aimed at helping to bring awareness, gain support in Washington, and raise money all to benefit the refugees of Darfur. In Steven Fake and Kevin Funk’s book The Scramble for Africa they will provide research and show why none of this money reaches the people of Darfur. They will show why the US government is more interested in their own self interests, the war on terrorism and oil than “humanitarian intervention.”

China is in this race to commercialize Africa and gain control of oil. So if the US doesn’t enter the race, some other country will. The US also has a stake in Africa since 911, and their interest in Africa is also in fighting terrorism.

The authors kindle many questions as you read the book as your mind becomes a muddled mass of gray matter. For example, Why aren’t we concerned about the Iraq war and the need for humanitarian intervention there. As of August 2007 they claim 1.2 million people have been killed, with several million refugees. The troubles in the Congo have taken more lives than any since WWII, more than 5 million people. Even more amazing is that since 2002 they are still loosing 45,000 people, mostly children each month, primarily from disease. So why are we not advocating action for humanitarian intervention there?

When you read The Scramble for Africa, there is a sense of foreboding and failure throughout, but we can’t keep hiding behind untruths. Can we? We can’t keep ignoring the newspapers and believe what editorial opinion offers. Can we? We can’t and shouldn’t keep throwing away money for causes we think are helping when they are creating more harm. Can we? Is the conflict and killing in Darfur defined as genocide in the global community? Is the discovery of oil truly driving the race?

Difficult questions have no affable answers as the authors offer convincing data, past historical events, professional articles, primary documents and a plethora of publications to support their arguments. Bold gutsy writing with a clear purpose this is an intellectually decisive work about Darfur and the US, missing from libraries until now.
A requisite read for anyone who wants a clearer understanding about Darfur, Intervention, and the US involvement in Africa. ( )