In almost every case, African nations are still controlled by their former colonial masters. For example, if a conflict breaks out in an African country, the European nation that controlled that country during colonialism steps in. That European country and its indigenous corporations have economic interests to protect and will place them far above the interest of the people involved in the conflict. This control is especially prevalent in the politics of the nation; corporations in Europe manipulate Africans to get or keep control over raw materials. Generally in the media, the civil warfare and its carnage are focused on, but never the people pulling the strings. That is, those who are directly responsible for the circumstance. For example, DeBeers International Diamond Merchants has been repeatedly tied to civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and Congo. The large European corporation will reportedly help finance a group of fighters who will then occupy the diamond -producing region of the nation and sell the diamonds cheaply. If they do not finance the rebels originally, they buy the diamonds on the black market, which funds a civil war indirectly. Other examples of exploitative former colonial powers include the linking of Shell Oil to civil war in Nigeria, and Firestone Tire and Rubber in Liberia. Western corporations enjoy a monopoly on the national resources of most nations, and financing a war is a small price to pay to stay in control. The situation in Africa is more complex than it is depicted in the West, and if Africans are continually put to blame, millions of people will continually die. The dependency theory in effect proposes a direct conflict with the statist approach: Admittedly there is corruption in high offices and many African leaders need to be removed from their positions. However, the point that is often overlooked is that the citizens rarely elect these officials into office.