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With 50
countries and a
land mass that
is about three
and a half times
the size of the
United States,
Africa is a
continent that
we can ignore or
take it for
granted only at
our peril. In
fact, if one
were to make a
list of U.S.
foreign policy
interests
worldwide, they
may be surprised
to find that
almost all of
them are in play
somewhere on the
African
continent.
Do we want to
reduce our
dependence on
Middle East oil?
Well, the Gulf
of Guinea,
running along
the west coast
of Africa from
the big bulge to
Angola, is
becoming one of
our major crude
oil and
liquefied
natural gas
suppliers.
Nigeria is now
the world’s
seventh biggest
oil producer at
2.5 million
barrels a day,
with Angola
coming up fast
to about the
same level.
Many oil
companies
predict that
this region will
continue to grow
as a major
producer.
While that
clearly presents
the U.S. with
the opportunity
to develop new
resources, it
also presents us
with the
challenge to
keep these
potential new
resources
secure. Indeed,
although it is
less volatile
than the Arab
Gulf, West
Africa has real
security
problems. For
example, a
poverty-driven
violent
insurrection
currently
underway in
Nigeria’s Delta
region is
jeopardizing
almost a million
barrels of daily
production, and
the fundamentals
of this problem
are still not
being
addressed.
And then there
is the threat of
terrorism.
Nearly 10 years
ago, Al Qaeda
blew up U.S.
embassies in
Nairobi and Dar
Es Salaam. Late
last year, Al
Qaeda-connected
extremists were
found to have
infiltrated the
home-grown Union
of Islamic
Courts that was
trying to fill
the governance
vacuum of the
15-year old
collapsed state
in Somalia.
Although
Ethiopian
military action
succeeded in
dismantling the
Islamic
“jihadist”
militias,
Somalia
continues to be
a hotbed of
anarchy at the
backdoor of
Yemen and Saudi
Arabia.
The good news is
that Islamic
extremism is
being rejected
throughout the
rest of the
continent by
half the
population of
one billion
people who are
Moslem. In
Sub-Saharan
Africa, the Sufi
form of Islam
eschews religion
in politics, and
is highly
tolerant of
other religions
and cultures.
In part for
this reason,
U.S. cooperation
with African
governments on
intelligence
sharing, money
laundering, and
anti-terrorist
military
training is
active and
growing. For
example, in the
tiny Republic of
Djibouti, at the
southern
entrance to the
Red Sea, 1,200
U.S. Special
Forces soldiers
and civilian
personnel are
working not only
to win the
hearts and minds
of those who
live in the
region, but to
maintain
military
readiness in the
event future
threats arise.
U.S. security
interests in
Africa are
considered
sufficiently
important to
justify the
recent creation
of a new
military combat
command called
AFCOM (for
African
Command.)
AFCOM will be
responsible for
potential
operations in
every African
country except
Egypt. The
continued
existence in
Africa of
collapsed and
failing states
and their
dangerous
ungoverned
spaces, as well
as the need to
protect energy
supply lines,
have raised
Africa’s
visibility
within the U.S.
national
security
calculus.
Where is Africa
going fifty
years after the
end of colonial
rule? As far as
economic
development is
concerned, the
results have
been
disappointing.
Despite
improvement
since the end of
the Cold War
under World Bank
mentoring, there
is still no
African “tiger”
comparable to
Malaysia,
Thailand or
Singapore. It
is important for
U.S. foreign
interests that
Africa does
better in
achieving
self-sustaining
economic growth.
It is important
that our
substantial
annual
expenditures for
food aid and
humanitarian
relief be
replaced by
expanded trade
and investment.
U.S. development
policy toward
Africa has been
particularly
creative during
the
Administration
of George W.
Bush. The
creation of the
Millennium
Challenge
Corporation has
begun the
process of
selecting and
financing those
African
countries that
show the most
promise for true
economic
expansion and
wealth
creation. Debt
relief and trade
advantages for
African exports
have been
broadened and
deepened. More
than any other
President,
George W. Bush
has underscored
the need and
support for a
vigorous
indigenous
private sector
in Africa.
Africa is doing
much better in
another area of
interest to
Washington –
democratization.
More and more
countries are
enjoying
peaceful
transitions from
one elected
government to a
successor.
Democracy has
become
irreversible in
about 10 African
countries.
African
progress in this
area stands in
stark contrast
to the unsavory
choices in some
Middle East
countries
between the
corrupt elites
or the radical
Islamists. In
this aspect, at
least,
Sub-Saharan
Africa is in the
vanguard.
Those of us who
follow events in
Africa daily are
deeply
frustrated and
troubled by
continuing
tragedies such
as the genocide
in Darfur and
the suicidal
repression in
Zimbabwe. But
there is also
great potential
and significant
hope that Africa
will nonetheless
take its place
as a productive
participant in
the global
economy.
Countries like
South Africa,
Tanzania, Ghana,
Mozambique and
Botswana are
moving in that
direction.
The U.S. has
learned a great
deal over half a
century about
what works and
what doesn’t in
the context of
African culture.
This is no time
to reduce our
engagement with
Africa. On the
contrary, good
opportunities
are out there in
terms of raw
materials,
agricultural
innovation,
abundant energy
and hard working
populations.
Americans need
to take
advantage of
this potential
before India and
China slip in
ahead of us.
--###--
Herman J. Cohen
is a former
Ambassador to
Senegal who
served as
Assistant
Secretary of
State for
African Affairs
under President
George H.W.
Bush. He is the
author of
“Intervening in
Africa:
Superpower
Peacemaking in a
Troubled
Continent.”
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