Law and Order

The United States' star mercenary, Erik Prince of Blackwater, protects Chinese investment around the African continent.

Erik Prince of Blackwater (Wiki Commons).

Remember when the TV series, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” did a two-hour season premiere episode on Erik Prince’s anti-pirate private militia in Somalia? Prince (founder and frequent re-namer of the infamous mercenary company, Blackwater) became a celebrity by escalating and deepening armed conflicts. His intervention in Somalia was just as disturbing as it is anywhere else, but it may be more confusing. As Dan Murphy reported for The Christian Science Monitor, at the end of November:

Prince’s anti-piracy militia was ultimately abandoned by its funders, leaving a new, well-armed, and semi-organized group in the mix of competing militias in the Horn of Africa.

The UN Security Council condemned the (reportedly 1000 plus strong force) in July 2012, saying:

This private army disingenuously labeled a “counter-piracy” force, has been financed by zakat contributions mainly from high-ranking officials from the United Arab Emirates, including the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

While the government of the UAE officially denied any involvement, Law & Order suggested Liberia was involved, and also that Somalia is in West Africa.

Consider this a photo essay that hits all our favorite colonial fantasies about America, sex, African sex, and tribalism:

As news reports suggest last week, Prince, through his second African venture, is hoping to capitalize on China’s growing interests on the continent. In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Prince explained that his latest company, the Abu Dhabi-based “Private Equity Investment Firm,” Frontier Resource Group, is to be “an Africa-dedicated investment firm partnered with major Chinese enterprises, including at least one state-owned resource giant that is keen to pour money into the resource-rich continent.”

Everything from the company’s name, to the way Prince talks about the venture reeks of Victorian-era exploration, danger, and discovery on the Dark Continent. (Case in point is a statement he made on a recent trip to Hong Kong to court potential investors. According to Mr. Prince, “Africa is so far the most unexplored part of the world, and I think China has seen a lot of promise in Africa.”)

So how will Prince balance the classic savior image with the neoliberal straight talk he’s giving now? (In the same interview with the South China Morning Post he says: “If you can’t get to market cheaply enough, that’s not interesting”). Hypocrisy has always worked fine.

And how will Law & Order depict Prince providing an army-for-hire to Chinese investors looking to extract natural resources from some of the more ‘high-risk’ regions of Africa like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and South Sudan?

We can’t wait and hope it involves an evil doppelgänger, or at least an identity thief.

Further Reading

Repoliticizing a generation

Thirty-eight years after Thomas Sankara’s assassination, the struggle for justice and self-determination endures—from stalled archives and unfulfilled verdicts to new calls for pan-African renewal and a 21st-century anti-imperialist front.

Drip is temporary

The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

Energy for whom?

Behind the fanfare of the Africa Climate Summit, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline shows how neocolonial extraction still drives Africa’s energy future.

The sound of revolt

On his third album, Afro-Portuguese artist Scúru Fitchádu fuses ancestral wisdom with urban revolt, turning memory and militancy into a soundtrack for resistance.

O som da revolta

No seu terceiro álbum, o artista afro-português Scúru Fitchádu funde a sabedoria ancestral com a revolta urbana, transformando memória e militância em uma trilha sonora para a resistência.

Biya forever

As Cameroon nears its presidential elections, a disintegrated opposition paves the way for the world’s oldest leader to claim a fresh mandate.

From Cornell to conscience

Hounded out of the United States for his pro-Palestine activism, Momodou Taal insists that the struggle is global, drawing strength from Malcolm X, faith, and solidarity across borders.