A year of war: An African view

[View this email in your browser]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, It’s been nearly 30 years since writer Thomas Friedman thought up the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention. Put simply: no two countries blessed (or cursed) by McDonald’s have ever gone to war. The idea is that any economy that has reached the middle-class Valhalla of churning out cheap cheeseburgers will not be eager tto skirmish with another. Or, as Friedman says: “People in McDonald's countries don't like to fight wars; they like to wait in line for burgers.” The original intention — for the theory to be little more than a humorous thought device — has not stopped it from sprouting deep roots into popular political thinking. This is also despite it being an easy target for fact-checkers, [such as Snopes]( who can point to a handful of wars in which the golden arches stretched to both sides. In splitting post-communist Yugoslavia for one, the franchise was even used by emerging nation states to taunt enemies who had not yet been endowed. [Serbian football fans would sing]( to those of Croatia’s Hajduk Split: “Hamburger, cheeseburger, ketchup and fries, we have a McDonald’s and Split doesn’t!” Factual exactness notwithstanding, it’s not hard to see why Friedman’s idea has continued to gather culture credence into the 21st century. The world is a relatively safe place to anyone who counts [scalding coffee]( among their biggest concerns in life. As heinous as recent wars have been — the illegal hunt for nonexistent chemical weapons in Iraq or the desolation of Yemen, for example — to the average citizen of a developed city they are little more than an abstraction. (Of course, that apathy itself is a problem). That all changed when Russia declared war on Ukraine one year ago. And so did the world. Ironically, in the context of the Golden Arches theory, McDonald’s was one of the first multinational corporations to suspend operations in Russia after the war began. They would later sell all storefronts to a local businessperson who rebranded the franchise as "Vkusno i tochka" (Tasty and point). (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images) This is a war that has touched everyone; either idealogically or practically. New geopolitical lines are being drawn as borders shift into the patterns of a new cold war. Supply shortages and sanctions affect most facets of life. Reflecting on the past 12 months Is not something that any one person is qualified to do. To say the conflict is nuanced sevely understates its complexity; to say there is undeniable truth to be dug out of the carnage is to forget that objectivity was one of its first victims. This is why we have invited a diverse group of commentators in the Mail & Guardian’s Thought Leader section to contemplate the past year. Not the war in its entirety, but what it has meant for our country, for the Global South and for Africa. Please read as many as possible. Even views we disagree with are invaluable to shaping our understanding. Yours in solidarity, Luke Feltham A year of war: An African view - [Russia-Ukraine: Why South Africa will not jump into bed with the West]( – Richard Calland - [Multi-polar world does not mean being in favour of Putin]( – Imraan Buccus - [A year on, why are some African countries still not condemning Russia?]( – Ross Harvey - [Russia-Ukraine: Changing face of the war and Impact on the Global South]( – Nontobeko Hlela - [Zelensky in Europe: Too early to ask for jets?]( – Imran Khalid More from our columnists [Pravin Gordhan is Joshua Doore]( – Khaya Koko [Jobs, dreams and why we should care]( – Sarah Smit [Contaminated or none at all: South Africa’s water affairs are cause for concern]( – Ozayr Patel [Andre de Ruyter, not the superhero we wanted him to be]( – Lizeka Tandwa Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2023 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.