The Conflict Involving Communism in Mid-Africa

Western fears of a Communist take-over in Af rica are based on two misconceptions, that African leaders would be willing to escape the imperialism of the West only to submit to that of the East and that African contact with the East would automatically mean the importation of its eco nomic and political system. Where there has been political contact with the Communists, there has been no permanent commitment. Africa has not only accepted economic aid from Communist countries but also, in great amounts, from the West. The policy of nonalignment is not anti-West. Nor is the use of one-party systems in some new states antidemo cratic. The new countries of Africa are trying to forge a line suitable for their own development. They are bound to make use of the valuable experiences of both East and West, to ob tain assistance from whatever quarter it comes. They cannot afford, at this stage, to become involved in the cold war; they must fight illiteracy, poverty, and disease at home. Even partisan politics and many of the trappings of democracy may be too expensive luxuries. The essence of democracy, how ever, is present and is firmly rooted in African history. The basic concepts of communism are alien to Africa. There does not exist today in any of the newly independent countries of mid-Africa the core of rigidly disciplined and tightly organ ized Marxist-Leninists on which has usually depended the propagation of Communist ideas.—Ed.