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During the 19th century, Africa was referred to as "the Dark Continent." Since Russia and the United States no longer have to compete in the Cold War to win the friendship of African countries, Africa today may be labeled "the Forgotten Continent."
In The Fate of Africa: Trial by Fire Jeremy Harding, a British free-lance journalist for the BBC and other journals, provides a firsthand account of the wars of liberation that took place in Angola, Namibia, Western Sahara, South Africa, Mozambique and Eritrea. He first traveled to Angola where he observed the struggle between the M.P.L.A. (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) led by Jonas Savimba, who refused to accept the control of the Angolan Government by the M.P.L.A. Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the President of Angola, secured the support of Cuban troops and the assistance of the Soviet Union to resist UNITA attacks. Savimba, who cleverly proclaimed himself an anti-Communist, was assisted by South African troops and covert U.S. military aid supplied through Zaire. In September 1992, a U.N.-supervised election was won by the M.P.L.A., but Savimba refused to accept the results. UNITA has renewed the fighting, which continues to the present time.
Harding then reports on the struggle between SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organization) and the South African Army that occupied Namibia, a former German colony. In 1966, the United Nations ordered...