Madagascar

From Gothpoodle

• Population: 130 million
• Aspects: Repressive, Poor, Third Wave

Madagascar is something of an anomaly in African affairs. The island nation was first settled not by Africans, but by seafarers from far to the east. The major local language, Malagasy, is most closely related to the Malay dialects spoken in Indonesia. Perhaps because of this ethnic affinity, Madagascar developed relatively close ties to Indonesia and Malaysia during the 2030s. Through this channel, nanosocialist ideas became popular on the island in the 2070s, and a nanosocialist government came to power in 2086.

Madagascar is a poor nation, which has not enjoyed much benefit from the growth in prosperity among its neighbors on the African mainland. Resentment of this fact has made the current nanosocialist regime quite hostile to the wealthy African states. Backed by Indonesian military aid, Madagascar is building up its military forces and acting as a staging ground for covert activities on the African mainland. Much of the past decade’s spread of African nanosocialism can be attributed to spies and diplomats operating out of Madagascar. Naturally, South Africa takes a dim view of this activity, and has taken an increasingly confrontational stance in response.