n with its desire to unite all Islam into one. The Soviet
Complex with its ultimate dream of a soviet world. The capitalistic
economies of the British Commonwealth, Common Europe, and your United
States of the Americas, with their hunger for, positive need for,
sources of raw materials and markets for their manufactured products.
All, though playing lip service to the African Development Project,
have still their own ambitions."

Sven Zetterberg waggled a finger at Homer Crawford. "I do not charge
that your United States is attempting to take over Africa, or even any
section of it, in the old colonialistic sense. Even England and France
have discovered that it is much simpler to dominate economically than
to go through all the expense and effort of governing another people.
That is the basic reason they gave up their empires. No, your United
States would love to so dominate Africa that her products, her
entrepreneurs, would flood the continent to the virtual exclusion of
such economic competitors as Common Europe. The Commonwealth feels the
same, so does the French Community. The Soviets and Arabs have
different motivations, but they, too, wish to take over. The
result...." The Swede tossed up his hands in a gesture more Gallic
than Scandinavian.

* * * * *

"What has all this got to do with El Hassan?" Homer Crawford asked
softly.

The Swede leaned forward. "If we more devoted adherents of the
Reunited Nations are ever to see our hopes come true, Africa must be
united and made strong. And this must be done through the efforts of
_Africans_ not Russians, British, French, Arabs ... nor even
Scandinavians. Socio-economic changes should not, possibly cannot, be
inflicted upon a people from without. Look at the mess the Russians
made in such countries as Hungary, or the Americans in such as South
Korea."

"The people themselves must have the dream," Crawford said softly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing. Go on."

Zetterberg said, "On the surface, great progress seems to be
continuing. Afforestation of the Sahara, the solar pumps creating new
oases, the water purification plants on the Atlantic and
Mediterranean, pushing back the desert, the oil fields, the mines, the
roads, the damming of the Niger. But already cracks can be seen. A
week or so ago, a team of Cubans, supposedly, at least, in the Sudan
to improve sugar refining methods, were machine-gunned to death. By
whom? By the Su