Fifty Years Of U S African Policy

Fifteen men and women have occupied the position of Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. They charted the course of U.S. Africa policy for fifty years that spanned the dawn of African independence to the present era of globalized engagement. In these pages each Assistant Secretary describes his or her stewardship and assesses the state of the U.S – Africa relations during their tenure. Their perspectives are enhanced by the oral histories of six Foreign Service Officers who recall the excitement and challenges of living and working in Africa and associating with such leaders as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Nelson Mandela. The courage and dedication of all these men and women illuminate every page.

Fifteen men and women have occupied the position of Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. They charted the course of U.S. Africa policy for fifty years that spanned the dawn of African independence to the present era of globalized engagement. In these pages each Assistant Secretary describes his or her stewardship and assesses the state of the U.S Africa relations during their tenure. Their perspectives are enhanced by the oral histories of six Foreign Service Officers who recall the excitement and challenges of living and working in Africa and associating with such leaders as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Nelson Mandela. The courage and dedication of all these men and women illuminate every page.

Africa is forever on our TV screens, but the bad-news stories (famine, genocide, corruption) massively outweigh the good (South Africa). Ever since the process of decolonialisation began in the mid-1950s, and arguably before, the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war, improper use of natural resources and misappropriation of revenues and aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. How did we get here? What, if anything, is to be done? Weaving together the key stories and characters of the last fifty years into a stunningly compelling and coherent narrative, Martin Meredith has produced the definitive history of how European ideas of how to organise 10,000 different ethnic groups has led to what Tony Blair described as the 'scar on the conscience of the world'. Authoritative, provocative and consistently fascinating, this is a major book on one of the most important issues facing the West today.

In this book Peter Schraeder offers the first comprehensive theoretical analysis of US foreign policy toward Africa in the postwar era. He argues that though we often assume that US policymakers 'speak with one voice', Washington's foreign policy is, however, derived from numerous centres of power which each have the ability to pull policy in different directions. The book describes the evolution of policy at three levels: Presidents and their close advisors; the bureaucracies of the executive branch; and Congress and African affairs interest groups. Most importantly, the evidence presented demonstrates that the nature of events in Africa has itself affected the operation of the US policymaking process, and the substance of US policy. Drawing on over 100 interviews, and detailed case studies in Zaire, Ethiopia-Somalia and South Africa, this book provides a unique analysis of the historical evolution of US foreign policy towards Africa from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Analysing US foreign policy towards Angola during the Ford administration, this book provides an intriguing insight into one of the most avoidable and unfortunate episodes in Cold War history and explores the impact on Henry Kissinger’s much vaunted reputation for being guided by realist principles. Kissinger has dominated political discourse and scholarship on US foreign policy since the 1970s, but although his legacy continues to generate controversy, little attention has been paid to the influence of Vietnam’s collapse on the US decision to covertly intervene in the Angolan civil war. This book argues that Kissinger’s concern for personal reputation and US credibility following the collapse of Vietnam led to a harmful and unrealistic policy toward Angola. Exposure of US covert intervention exacerbated domestic and international political tensions and the subsequent showdown between the excutive and legislative branches ironically resulted in Kissinger proclaiming a new departure in US–African relations. Thus, it is argued that Kissinger was an ‘unintentional realist’ rather than an intellectual proponent of realpolitik. Enhancing our understanding of Kissinger, his relationship with his subordinates and with Congress, and his approach to foreign policy, this book will be of interest to scholars of Cold War history, US foreign policy and all those fascinated by the personality of Henry Kissinger.

This book addresses one main question: whether the United States has a cohesive foreign policy for Africa. In assessing the history of the United States and its interactions with the continent, particularly with the Horn of Africa, the author casts doubt on whether successive US administrations had a cohesive foreign policy for Africa. The volume examines the historical interactions between the US and the continent, evaluates the US involvement in Africa through foreign policy lenses, and compares foreign policy preferences and strategies of other European, EU and BRIC countries towards Africa.

From the end of WWII to the end of the Obama administration, development assistance in Africa has been viewed as an essential instrument of US foreign policy. Although many would characterise it as a form of aid aimed at enhancing the lives of those in the developing world, it can also be viewed as a tool for advancing US national security objectives. Using a theoretical framework based on 'power', United States Assistance Policy in Africa examines the American assistance discourse, its formation and justification in relation to historical contexts, and its operation on the African continent. Beginning with a problematisation of development as a concept that structures hierarchies between groups of people, the book highlights how cultural, political and economic conceptions influence the American assistance discourse. The book further highlights the relationship between American national security and its assistance policy in Africa during the Cold War, the post-Cold War, and the post-9/11 contexts. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Development Studies, Political Science and International Relations with particular interest in US foreign policy, USAID and/or African Studies.

This is an authoritative and comprehensive history of the Cold War and the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union that has dominated world politics in the second half of the twentieth century.