For the many years I worked as a foreign correspondent and journalist in Africa during the highly politically disturbed 1950/60s, I also had an academic interest in seeking out the swathes of active Soviet Russian influence beamed into all countries between Egypt, in the north, and Cape Town in the south, with the aim of a planned eventual take-over of the entire continent.
What happened at the dictates of the Kremlin in those years was very similar to what is currently happening in Africa again today under the umbrella of the new BRICS alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, together with a group of lesser nations.
Seventy years ago, the Soviets were intent on destabilising Africa by attempting to influence what were mostly colonial territories through the use of high propaganda methods and offers of big cash handouts, particularly to various African heads of state.
Little has changed with the advent of time. Now, although the Cold War years are somewhat over, Russia under President Putin has succeeded in getting the BRICS countries to follow the Soviet example set shortly after World War ll.
Secret negotiations were held with fellow Communist China and, between them, they enthused Brazil, India and the other states, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, to join their anti-Western ranks.
South Africa was already there from the days when Nelson Mandela formed the South African Communist Party and received considerable Soviet aid in terrorist armaments and training together with special Soviet Russian awards for his trouble.
In the words of the new BRICS political grouping, they intend to challenge the political and economic powers of the United States, Britain and Europe while also paying attention to reducing the Democratic strengths of other pro-Western countries, such as Canada and Australia.
As a result of this thinking by BRICS, we in Australia are now having to fight off mass attempts by Russia and China to hack vital Australian information sources with the aid of spies and sympathisers within and outside the country.
Both India and China have already been found to be complicit in attempting to harm our Australian economy to satisfy BRICS determination to destabilise the West and to “politically re-balance the world.”
Just as in my days of working in Africa so long ago, BRICS has created a special development bank which has already paid out more than US$32 billion to “emerging nations” as an incentive to its political way of thinking.
Representing, as it does, nearly four billion people in its member countries (or 45 per cent of everyone on this globe), BRICS is also assisting China to particularly grow its power and influence in Africa, just as the Soviets tried — but generally failed — during my time there.
When working as a newsman on the African continent, my principal information gathering task was to try to find “Reds under beds” during a pro-Democracy campaign to win the Cold War against threatened Soviet Russian imperialism.
Now, in my latter years following the demise of the U.S.S.R. through former Russian President Gorbachev’s Glasnost, I realise that our one-time Communist adversaries are again desperately trying to be potential victors in the new Russian and Chinese struggle against Democracy through their continued legacy of undercover propaganda techniques and theft of Western secrets and money.
Last year, Australians lost three billion dollars by having their computers and bank cards hacked and stolen. At least 60 per cent of this national loss is estimated to have been due to Russian and Chinese hackers involving government agencies and individual criminals.
As any Red political baiter knows only too well, the Second World War Soviets under Josef Stalin were determined to defeat the Western Powers militarily after they had destroyed the West’s social fabric and principles.
To achieve this end, they set up an elaborate — but subtle — global propaganda and terrorist network. This sought to spread political and economic destabilisation and wreak havoc among our youth, trade unions, religions, educational institutions, political parties and various other facets of life in the West, including the entire African continent.
Fortunately, they basically failed on that occasion, but the story today could turn out very differently unless we in the West wake up to the fact very soon.
I can clearly remember the time when undercover Communist literature swamped university campuses in Britain, France, Italy, East Germany, South Africa and Australia. The call was to bring down Democratic governments everywhere.
Now, by comparison, we have the more recently invented social media attempting to do the same job — but being virtually able to get to everyone individually in a more subtle way.
Contacts of mine in Africa have told me that the continent is awash these days with cheap Chinese mobile phones and their owners are the target of incessant anti-Western propaganda and with major accolades for the pro-Red BRICS alliance.
My main concern, however, is the way Russia and China have devised their BRICS alliance membership. Brazil has obviously been chosen for its leadership in South America; India for its strength of population; China for its potential control of the East and the Pacific, and South Africa for its influence throughout the African continent. This leaves the Russians to handle Europe, Britain and North America.
In total, BRICS has its tentacles in every continent with the whole globe potentially under control and hypothetically covered for another possible world order.