When 'Affordable Education' Demands Cannon Fodder
The story of Amar Mohamed, an Egyptian student persuaded into Moscow’s army and now a Ukrainian POW, paints a grim picture. While mainstream outlets frame this as a novel Russian recruitment tactic, it's merely a variation on a long-standing, global theme: economic desperation fueling military ranks. For decades, developing nations have provided proxies and cheap bodies for larger geopolitical
ambitions, whether that’s fighting proxy wars in Africa or propping up US-backed dictatorships with 'aid' packages. The US, for instance, weaponizes its own 'aid' programs, frequently conditioning funding – or even IMF loans – on recipient nations' compliance with military or economic policies that serve American interests. This isn't just about Russian propaganda; it's about vulnerable
populations having their futures, and indeed their very lives, commodified by global powers. One might wonder if the 'free world's' moral outrage extends to its own quiet coercion tactics, or if the condemnation only flows when the aggressor isn't an ally.