Is the Cycle Repeatings Self & where would Africa Stand ?

I need us to answer very critically the question asked by Milton Mueller, the founder of IGP when he opened the 5th annual workshop on the topic is “Building Transnational Cyber-Attribution. The cycle is frighteningly similar. African states where do we stand in this cycle. Would we remain pawns and be played or we would come to get as one to be able to ensure that we are not left worse by this cycle?

He says “there are a lot of parallels between the time we are in now and the early 20th century. The period from 1895 – 1914 was a period of globalization and growing prosperity. Unprecedented economic growth was fueled in part by the rapid development of communications technology: especially undersea telegraph cables and radiotelegraphy. All this prosperity and interconnection unravelled rapidly, however, as Western states tried to harness their newfound wealth to enlarge their political and military power. This led to a global competition for imperial possessions and growing friction among states. It culminated in the horrors of World War 1 and, not too long after, a global depression and World War 2.

We seem to be repeating this cycle. Decades of economic growth and the rise of an even more globalizing technology, networked computers, is now being followed by deterioration into national rivalries. Again we see a rising power confronting a prior dominant power (back then it was Germany and the US challenging British hegemony; now it is the US seeing China as a threat to its global hegemony). We see the elevation of national security over global trade and interconnection. Tech nationalism – where control of communication and information technology is wedded to the security objectives of the nation-state – is being embraced by almost every major and minor state power. It does not bode well for connected and peaceful cyberspace”.

So what are we going to do as African people within this period so we are not left worse off? You and I have roles to play, it would require African states, business and the third sector coming together sovereignty, jurisdiction for its sake would be useless. The time for collaboration not just at governmental levels but more importantly at the business level and citizen levels would be more critical to see us through this cycle that is almost coming the full circle. But it is critical that AU, Smart Africa and the sub-regional bodies should rise and provide leadership too

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