[TEASER] Alliance of Sahel States Ep. 3: Hyperimperialism and the Fight for Sovereignty w/ Mikaela Nhondo Erskog

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Mikaela Nhondo Erskog joins us for a wideranging conversation about hyperimperialism and the Sahel's fight against it. We begin the conversation talking about the anti-LGBTQ law that was passed in Burkina Faso criminalizing "acts of homosexuality." We explore the law itself (part of a broader family code bill) and explore how we in the West can wrestle with the contradictions it presents. We then focus our conversation on hyperimperialism, looking at how Western Africa is responding to decades of colonialism and neocolonialism. We talk about what the decline of the US portends for the future of the Global South, the on-the-ground development projects that the AES is embarking on with Russia and China, how the AES and other states on the African continent are attempting to reverse decades of underdevelopment and unequal exchange, and much more.

Mikaela Nhondo Erskog is a researcher at Tricontinental. a doctoral student in International Relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, and regional coordinator of the International People's Assembly in Pan Africanism Today.

Although the episodes in our series build on each other in certain ways, all of our series are designed so that each episode can be listened to as a standalone.

Further resources:

• Tricontinental
• The Sahel Seeks Sovereignty
• Hyper-Imperialism: A Dangerous Decadent New Stage
• International People's Assembly
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2025 Yearbook

Related episodes:

• Our ongoing series on the Alliance of Sahel States
• Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante
• Post Capitalist Parenting Pt. 3: A Dialectical Perspective w/ Breht O'Shea
• NATO Pt. 1: An Anti-Imperialist Introduction w/ Elina Xenophontos
• Third Worldism and the Bandung Spirit w/ Pranay Somayajula
• Listen to our ongoing series on China
• (Chinese) Socialism vs (U.S.) Capitalism

Artwork: Soviet-era propaganda poster by Eduard Artsrunyan titled "Colonialism is Doomed!"

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