Author Topic: Are nation-states necessary anymore?  (Read 766 times)

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Offline Omni

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Re: Are nation-states necessary anymore?
« Reply #75 on: September 08, 2018, 08:35:08 pm »
Sure. Because the West was where the industry was that needed it. And that's involved a good deal of chicanery and bribery over the years by Western companies - and even governments. But the latter have been mostly easing off in recent decades and trying to curtail bribery from their corporations. I think we're going to find out that the way the Chinese government is going to act in Africa will be reminiscent of the worst excesses of the banana republic days of the US and Latin America.

Well yes I had some "interesting" relations with a Chinese firm who was contracted by a Canadian company to do seismic operations for oil exploration in Eastern Africa. Let's just say they didn't get along with the locals well after the latter realized they were getting ripped off in many ways. The Americans did the same thing but were snubbed when the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act came into being and I had to sit through a days briefing by a company lawyer. I doubt the Chinese have a similar regulation.