The horror stories of the treatment of African students in Ukraine and their transit out of that war torn county reminded Africans everywhere of the explosion of white supremacist ideas at the present conjuncture of human history. In every imperialist war of the 20th century, Africans suffered disproportionately as Africans were drawn into battles not of their choosing. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the weaponization of everything (trade, energy, information, currency, genetic information and technology). This multi-front war is having a devastating impact on the people of Ukraine with collateral damage to humans in every part of the globe. The entanglement of non-nuclear weapons with nuclear weapons and their enabling capabilities is exacerbating the risk of a global war, especially in the face of the U.S. fear of the closer technological and financial cooperation between China and Russia. The Ukraine invasion and the escalation of that war has brought to the forefront the questions of disarmament so that both the leaders of NATO and the leaders of the Russian Federation do not bring humanity to the brink of violence and deaths that will come out of a protracted war. Bearing in mid the calls for the dismantling of NATO in my earlier book, Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure in Libya: lessons for Africa in the Forging of African Unity, this presentation will again highlight the role of NATO in the military management of the international financial system.

The food, energy, balance of payments and military shocks of this war is having ricocheting effects in Africa compounding the day to day crimes of racial capitalism. One immediate effect in all parts of the world is the increased weaponization of the US dollar. In that regard the paper will inquire: “What are the opportunities for Pan-Africanism/the Global South if there is a rupture in the US dollar hegemony?” The conclusion will intensify the call for peace, negotiations and a restructuring of the international political economy. For each human on the planet, the horrors of a potential nuclear confrontation between the USA and Russia should be enough for the global peace movement to call for a stop to this war immediately.