African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1613 Security Threats
This adjustment of the East African Military District and Theater Command reveals East Africa's global positioning as a world power situated between a regional power and a global hegemon.

East Africa does not have the strength or influence to dominate the world; otherwise, it would not have focused on the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic, instead of having the global deployments that were in place during the time when Britain and the United States were world superpowers. There are many places in the world that East Africa cannot control.

At the same time, East Africa still places more emphasis on land power development than purely maritime powers. Britain itself is an island nation, so its army has long been neglected. Although the United States is a continental country, its land security is more stable than that of East Africa.

East Africa faces a much more complex land security situation than the United States, with two prominent issues: religion and ethnicity. North East Africa is within the sphere of influence of the Arab world, creating natural religious and cultural barriers.

The United States does not have this concern. Both Canada and Mexico are Christian countries, and there is no inherent conflict between them in terms of religion and culture.

Regarding religious and cultural conflicts, one can boldly imagine that if Canada were an Arab country, the relationship between the United States and Canada would certainly be more complicated, contradictory, and conflict-ridden, and the two countries would not have formed the close relationship they have today.

Just as East Africans cannot disregard religion and regard the Arab countries of North Africa as "their own people."

This issue can also be illustrated by Canada itself, for example, the French-speaking regions of Quebec and other parts of Canada have become independent and even want to secede from Canada.

This is just the conflict between English-speaking and French-speaking populations, yet it has already caused a split in Canada, a country with such favorable fundamental conditions. If it were a religious conflict, Canada would most likely erupt into direct conflict, or even civil war.

Religious conflict is itself a highly intense ideological dispute; the confrontation between two completely different religions is in no way inferior to the conflict between the Soviet Union and capitalist countries.

East Africa is no exception, so it must suppress the vast Arab religious forces that are contiguous to the north, which is considered relatively restrained.

In ancient times, this would most likely have evolved into an African version of the Crusades.

Therefore, East Africa will inevitably maintain military forces along its northern border, ready to intervene at any time, or even in the event of war, to prevent the Arab forces in North Africa, or even the Middle East, from colluding and growing in power.

These two regions are connected by land, so land forces are an effective means for East Africa to intervene in and suppress the Arab world.

In theory, East African troops could even advance from the mainland, through Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, all the way into the heart of the Middle East.

Conversely, if the Arab world unites to form a powerful alliance and empire, they could become a "border threat" to the security of East Africa.

As Talfis said, "In the long run, the unity of the Arab world was a major threat to the empire. Now the Arab world has only declined, but in ancient times, the Arab world was a powerful force that could attack on multiple fronts, confront the whole of Europe and the Far East, conquer South Asia, and penetrate Southeast Asia."

"Therefore, with the reunification of the Arab forces, they are also capable of posing a threat to East Africa and bringing great military pressure to our northern region."

"In the future, the empire's enemies may also take advantage of this to make the Arab forces oppose us, thereby achieving the goal of suppressing the empire."

"Therefore, the Empire must maintain its military advantage in the north to prevent this from happening."

The Soviet Union could have used Cuba to create trouble in America's backyard, while the United States could have supported Afghanistan to challenge the Soviet Union, or supported Japan and the Philippines to contain the Far Eastern empire.

Similarly, potential future enemies of East Africa, namely other superpowers such as the United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France, could also support Arab forces in North Africa to confront East Africa.

Regarding this point, Talfis cited a typical example: "That's what the British did. Since East Africa became the dominant power in Africa, Britain has provided a series of military support to Egypt. The political leaders of the two countries have even formed a tacit military alliance to jointly deal with the pressure exerted on them by the empire."

Despite being a British colony, the Egyptian government was actually in cahoots with Britain. Rather than Britain exploiting Egypt, they believed that East Africa would devour Egypt completely.

This is actually a mentality similar to "befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones." Long history has also proven that Britain did not pose a fatal threat to the survival of Egypt. On the contrary, for the sake of its own interests, Britain would even support its representatives in Egypt, and such people would make up the vast majority of the ruling class in Egypt.

Taulfis continued, "This is just Britain. Since the late 19th century, Britain has been in decline, so in its confrontation with East Africa, Britain has chosen a more defensive strategy rather than an offensive one."

"But if it were the United States, Germany, or the Soviet Union, the situation would be completely different."

"They can provide more substantial support and military assistance to the Arab forces in North Africa in order to curb the development and expansion of the empire."

"At the same time, by cooperating with the unity of the Arab world, it could potentially cause great trouble for the empire in the future."

Ernst agreed with Taurfius's concerns. Despite the Arab world's terrible past performance, they could at least openly mingle together.

Furthermore, if it weren't for the intervention of external forces, Nasser of Egypt in his previous life would very likely have united the Arab states and formed a unified Arab nation.

At that time, there were a large number of Nasser's followers and supporters in the Arab countries, and most of them were young and middle-aged people in the Arab countries. If Nasser had united and organized this force, there was a greater than 60% chance that it would have formed a powerful Arab country spanning the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

The Arab world's lackluster performance in its confrontation with Israel is not enough to prove that this force is not formidable.

After all, Israel is just a "top-notch henchman" with the entire Western world behind it, and even the United States and the Soviet Union supported it in the early days.

Moreover, in the confrontation between Israel and Arab countries, the Western world has been sowing discord and carrying out targeted suppression within Arab countries, thus preventing the emergence of a dominant force in the Arab world.

The Western world's conspiracy was very successful, but the cost was not small. After all, the confrontation between the West and the Arab world has lasted for thousands of years. Even after the industrial age, when the West's strength completely surpassed that of the Arab world, we have not seen the West completely split and eliminate this group in the last hundred years.

What would happen if the West relaxed its suppression of the Arab world?
The outcome is predictable: the Arab world will inevitably complete its internal integration quickly, and a dominant force will emerge. Therefore, East Africa must not lower its guard against the Arab world.

Ernst began, "This mindset of being prepared for danger in times of peace is correct. The possibility of a united Arab world is high, and it may even persist for a long time. Once this happens, it will have a huge negative impact on the Empire's interests. The Arab world is also the only independent force on the African continent that is not bound by the Empire. The threat to the Empire's security from North Africa is far greater than that from West Africa." The conflict between East and West Africa is mainly manifested at the ethnic level. However, West Africa does not have a unified religious belief like North Africa, making it less likely for them to form a community and thus less likely to have the leverage to engage in equal dialogue with East Africa.

Moreover, due to West African colonial activities, it is even less likely that West Africa will unite in the future. Currently, West Africa is under the influence of the British, the French, East Africa, and countries such as the United States, Spain, and Portugal.

This has actually exacerbated the divisions within West Africa, creating a deep-seated division at the level of language and culture.

For example, the spheres of influence in East Africa, namely Togoland, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Kingdom of New Austria, and the Kingdom of South Germany, will become the German-speaking areas of West Africa in the future. The people there are even different from the local populations, so it is impossible for them to unite with the black countries of West Africa.

This means that East Africa has already planted several spies in West Africa, and they are difficult to remove. If the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom successfully expand in the future, the German-speaking region may even be able to directly rival all the black forces in West Africa in terms of size and number, making it much more difficult to deal with North Africa.

This time, the division of the military districts in East Africa, and the adjustment of the Northern and Western Military Districts, further clarifies East Africa's strategic direction on the African continent.

The resource integration of the Northern Military Region is clearly aimed at countering religious forces in North Africa. In conjunction with the Northeast Military Region, the Pacific Theater, and the East Indian Ocean Theater, East Africa can better exert military pressure on the entire Arab world.

The Northern Military District was responsible for Arab forces in North Africa, while the Northeastern Military District was responsible for Arab forces along the Red Sea coast and in the Middle East. The Eastern Indian Ocean Theater was responsible for Arab forces in South Asia, and finally the Pacific Theater was responsible for suppressing Arab forces in Southeast Asia. The division of labor was very clear.

The expansion of the Western Military District further strengthens East Africa's dominance over West Africa and the entire South Atlantic, while West Africa is also an important distribution area for Arab influence.

From this perspective, the recent reorganization of the East African military district and theater command clearly carries a "malicious" intent towards Arab forces worldwide.

East Africa did indeed take this into consideration, but it was not only aimed at Arab forces. Another major reason for this outcome was the high degree of overlap between the spheres of influence of Arab forces and East Africa.

To put it more simply, the Arab world is too close to East Africa.

North Africa goes without saying, as it borders East Africa directly. The Middle East, West Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, where Arab influence is concentrated, also border the subordinate powers of East Africa.

As a newly emerging world power, East Africa is in the process of continuous expansion. This process, centered on East Africa itself and moving outward, will inevitably involve first confronting Arab forces.

Of course, East Africa's real competitors, at least in the early 20th century, were not these Arab countries and regions, but the Western countries behind them.

For example, in North Africa, Egypt was backed by the British, Libya was divided between France and Italy, the Red Sea coast had Italian Red Sea colonies, British Somaliland, and French Djibouti colony.

West Africa was backed by Britain and France, as well as the American colony of Liberia.

The Middle East rivalry is a competition between four world superpowers: Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union, and East Africa.

South Asia was Britain's home turf, with Soviet infiltration to the north and East Africa holding several strategic footholds around South Asia.

Southeast Asia was a melting pot, with virtually all the major powers having their own interests there or wanting to get involved. Besides Britain, France, East Africa, the United States, and the Netherlands, which had clear colonies in Southeast Asia, there were also three important variables: Japan, the Soviet Union, and Germany.

Japan is easy to understand. After all, Japan is a major contender for hegemony in the Pacific, ambitious and its covetousness for Southeast Asia is no less than its desire for the Far East.

As for the Soviet Union, its influence in Southeast Asia should not be underestimated. The fact that the Soviet Union was able to successfully support Vietnam, its ally in Southeast Asia, in the previous life is an example. Not to mention Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union has many followers all over the world. After all, the Soviet Union is now recognized as the world's leading labor party.

Finally, there is Germany. Germany's strength in Southeast Asia is relatively weak, but it has never given up its penetration into the region. After all, due to its lack of colonies, Germany attaches great importance to the development of overseas markets.

Therefore, in terms of Asia, Southeast Asia can be considered Germany's second most important region, while the Middle East is the first.

In conclusion, East Africa's strategic and military deployments in the world have now encountered a bottleneck. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, East Africa still had room for expansion, but now it is completely bordered by the spheres of influence of other countries in the world. Neither side has room to retreat, and they have formed a direct competitive relationship.

If a brutal approach, namely war, is chosen to break this situation, East Africa may provoke widespread anger and ultimately be attacked by all sides.

Therefore, for East Africa at present, it is best to promote conflicts between other superpowers and great powers, let them fight first, so that East Africa can better reap the benefits.

The recent adjustments to the military districts and theater commands in East Africa also represent a more rational plan for East Africa's global troop deployment, enabling it to respond to conflicts and disputes in major global directions at any time and consolidate stability within its sphere of influence.

This would facilitate East Africa's theft and reaping of the spoils of victory should the world undergo dramatic changes.

Finally, Ernst said, "The most important aspect of this adjustment of military districts and theater commands is the change in theater commands, since the main direction of expansion and threat to East Africa now and in the future is the sea, not the land."

"Regarding the deployment of forces in the theater of operations, the various theaters in the Indian Ocean are relatively stable and secure, with the least pressure."

"The Atlantic theater should strengthen its military deployment to counter pressure from Western countries, consolidate our interests in South America, and provide a military foundation for the expansion of the Empire's interests in West Africa."

The South American market is the most important market for East Africa at this stage. Therefore, in order to cope with the competitive pressure from Europe and the United States, East Africa must strengthen the construction of its Atlantic Navy.

"In the South Atlantic, the United States and Britain may still make a comeback, Germany's influence in South America is also rising, and as countries gradually recover from the effects of the Great Depression, their industries and economies are recovering, which may make them have bad ideas about our interests in South America."

(End of this chapter)