September 21: Journal entry #5

JOURNAL ENTRY #5

List of 10 'don't knows' about My topic:

1. I don't know where the majority of operations are taking place

2. I don't know if any operations are even taking place

3. I don't know the exact resources that are being extracted from Africa

4. I don't know the geopolitical implications of where these resources go

5. I don't know how securing resources from foreign countries actually works in real life

6. I don't know who has been placed into power in Africa as a result of these operations

7. I don't know who has been stripped of power in Africa as a result of these operations

8. I don't know how the local populace has been effected

9. I don't know who exactly orders these operations to take place

10. I don't know how the CIA actually goes about completing these operations

After some deliberation I have determined that from my list of 'don't knows', I need to know if any operations are taking place in the first place. I think that moving forward with any other questions would result in me becoming somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, and this question is ultimately the core of my studies, and if I were to come to the conclusion that the CIA was not really interfering with the affairs of Africa it would propel my studies into a completely different direction, but I digress. I think that first determining this will provide me with an excellent foundation to build off of in which I can inquire into deeper questions relating to my topic such as where the operations take place and how does the CIA go about achieving these goals. After I find conclusions to those questions I would move forward with looking into more specific operations, and how they actually looked when executed. For instance were these operations more 'loud' such as aiding in civil wars, or were they more 'quiet' such as political assassinations.