11/25/13

21st Century
American Foreign Policy
Dr. Bruce W. Jentleson

6A: Historical Background

I. Colonialism and Independence

II. Africa in the Cold War
III. US and South Africa
IV. 1990s: Somalia, Rwanda, Other Major Conicts
V. 4 Ps Assessment

Unit 6
Africa:
Persis0ng Old Issues, Pressing New Ones

6A: Historical Background

6B: Current Issues in US Africa Policy

I. Colonialism and Independence

Centuries of colonialism
Dawn of a new era
1957, Ghana the rst sub-Saharan African country to gain
independence
By 1960 another 17; by 1965 another 12; by 1976 no European
colonies le] in Africa
S^ll white minority regimes as in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South
Africa
Forma^on of the Organiza^on of African Unity (OAU) , 1963

II. Africa in the Cold War

As in other regions, US gives precedence to Containment, and
opposes many na^onalist forces, duck test, ABC

Example: The Congo/Zaire

Various forces gh^ng for control as becomes independent from

Belgium: Patrice Lumumba, (Joseph) Mobutu Sese Seko
Decades of US support for Mobutu dictatorship and kleptocracy ,
Zaire the largest African recipient of US foreign aid
Some human rights pressures during Carter administra^on
(1977-81), but fade a]er that
1996: Mobutu overthrown, Democra^c Republic of Congo
Almost two decades of civil war and mass killings (over 5 million
killed), rape capital of the world (UN)

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III. US and South Africa

Support for Apartheid, white minority rule over black
majority, gross discrimina^on and repression in all walks of
life
Opposi^on to Nelson Mandela and the African Na^onal
Congress party
US South Africas leading trade partner, foreign investments,
bank loans
Mid-1980s strengthening of the an^-apartheid movement in
South Africa, US, globally

1985-86 An^-Apartheid economic sanc^ons imposed by U.S.

Congress
Much support from Democrats, also some Republicans including then-
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Rela^ons Commijee Senator Richard
Lugar (our interviewee in Lecture 1D)
Vetoed by President Reagan, but overriden by more than the 2/3
majority required (313-83 House of Representa^ves, 78-21 Senate)
Case of successful economic sanc^ons
1990: Nelson Mandela released from jail, a]er almost 30 years as poli^cal
prisoner

IV. 1990s: Somalia, Rwanda, Other Major Conicts

End of the Cold War did not mean the end of war
Somalia:
1992: US and UN intervene as humanitarian mission, mass starva^on
1993: Black Hawk down incident, withdrawal 1994
Humanitarian missions, na^on-building?
Con^nued eorts by UN and African Union (AU) peace opera^ons
forces
S^ll highly unstable onshore, piracy oshore, 2011 drought
Al-Shabab in Somalia and terrorism, e.g., Kenya 2013

Rwanda 1994 Genocide 850,000 killed, millions displaced,

thousand raped, mostly Tutsis
The fastest, most ecient killing spree of the 20th century, Yet
the United States did almost nothing to try to stop it.
Nor did Europe, the UN, China, Russia, other African na^ons: The
genocide in Rwanda was a failure of humanity General Romeo
Dallaire

Historically rooted but NOT historically determined: while all the

killing could not have been stopped, mass atroci^es could have.

4 Ps Assessment

Plenty (too many) other cases

Darfur
Democra^c Republic of Congo (DRC)
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Cote dIvoire
Central African Republic the latest warning of mass atroci^es

Power: Cold War global containment

Peace: Somalia an ajempt but failed and not seen through,
Rwanda did lijle
Prosperity: some but not as much as other regions, such as La^n
America
Principles: rhetoric but few hard choices in which Principles given
priority

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Cita^ons
Map of Africa: hjp://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/txu-pclmaps-
oclc-792930639-africa-2011.jpg. Public Domain, via US government.
Map of Colonial Africa: B.W. Jentleson. American Foreign Policy: The
Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century. New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 5th edi^on, 2013. Pg. 570.
Mandela & Joseph: Used by permission, personal photograph of
Ambassador James Joseph.
Mandela: hjp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Nelson_Mandela-2008_(edit).jpg. Ajribu^on South Africa The Good
News / www.sagoodnews.co.za, via Wikipedia Crea^ve Commons 2.0
Generic license.