A new american century for africa
The twenty first century announced more promising for the black continent as the US turned massively and determinedly to Africa. Despite previous attempts by former administrations, it was the Bush administration which showed more interest in an economically and politically distressed area for so long. In the light of the international competition over the continents resources, the United States possesses clear and compelling national interests in Africa. There are vital security, economic, and humanitarian interests, including reliable long-term access to energy, shared largely by the African people and the international community. Yet, despite the rhetoric, did the Bush Administration really work to bring about a fairer and more just Africa? One of the central questions which needs to be asked is the extent to which President Bushs policy to help the African nations solidify the US policy? Or was his project implementation influenced largely by narrow American realpolitik perspectives thus missing the opportunity to lay the foundation for a well established Wilsonian idealism? Although George W. Bushs administration claimed to have made major new contributions to public health, promoting development, fostering democracy and peace in Sub-Saharan Africa : aid has increased in several areas and a major AIDS initiative launched, many scholars argued that foreign aid is losing its focus on development as political priorities come to the fore. Increasingly military approaches to fighting the Global War on Terror in Africa and securing energy imports carries serious risks for the region. This paper will first examine the enunciated objectives and rational for the Bushs policy project. Then, this will be followed by an assessment of the effect of these measures on the development of the continent and to which extent the rhetoric matches with reality.
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A new american century for africa
- 1. Africa is also increasingly vital to our strategic interests. We have seen that conditions on the other side of the world can have a direct impact on our own security. Remarks On Africa, Smithsonian National Museum Of African Art, Washington, D.C., February 14, 2008.
- 2. Many scholars and political analysts have argued that the events of 9/11 led the Bush administration to reformulate its depiction of national interests in the black continent. One plausible explanation for this shift in prioritization is mainly attributed to a convergence of threats, vulnerabilities and opportunities created by the War on Terror. The influx of neoconservative pundits to the Bush administration with their Project for the New American Century (PNAC) had allowed an urgent push to African-centric issues onto the governments agenda.
- 3. Africa may be a sanctuary for hiding and financing terrorist organizations: perhaps the explosion of United States embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es-salaam in 1998 had referred to the Al-Qaeda presence in several African States, as well as their interrelation with extremist Islamic groups in the Horn of Africa. There are important oil discoveries that put the African continent within the regions of the American interest. The United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD) estimated the total oil reserves of Africa by 80 billion barrels, representing 8% of the worlds crude.
- 4. Expand military presence on the African continent, so that the United States can apply policies of preventive strikes at any time and contain any hostile force.
- 5. The people who ran the Bush administrations strategy for Africa used the rhetoric of promoting democratic peace, free trade, freedom and stability. The US position as a strong promoter of trade liberalization has since been belied by the assertion that trade promotes development and poverty reduction. but their policies witnessed an increasing military presence on the continent During President George W. Bushs eight-year tenure, U.S. policy towards Africa underwent a dramatic enlargement, marked by an expansion of U.S. interests, a high-level diplomatic push on Sudan, unprecedented resource flows, and the establishment of several historic initiatives.
- 6. We have an obligation in this country to -- to continue to work with nations to help alleve poverty and disease. We will -- we will continue to push forward on the HIV/AIDS initiative, the Millennium Challenge Account. We will continue to do our duty to help feed the hungry. And I'm looking forward to it, I really am. George W. Bush, The Next 4 Years: Press Conference, Washington, DC, November 4, 2004
- 7. a three-year $5 billion development assistance program known as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). a $600 million Africa Education Initiative (AEI), a $55 million Womens Empowerment and Justice Initiative (WEJI). Bush promised to double assistance to African countries to $8.7 billion by 2010. In subsequent years, the president launched other programs such as the African Global Competitiveness Initiative (AGCI) to provide $200 million over five years to support increased trade and investment in Africa
- 8. He secured reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - first enacted under the Bill Clinton administration (May 18, 2000) - to provide for duty-free goods to enter the United States and African markets. The former president increased the United States budget for Africa from $1.4 billion when he entered office in 2001 to $5.6 billion in 2005. With his emergency plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15 billion AIDS treatment and prevention program launched in 2003, he increased American aid to millions in need (Bloomfield, 2008).
- 9. Several antiterrorism programs have been initiated since 9/11, including stationing 1,2001,800 U.S. and allied troops in Djibouti, patrolling Africas east coast, assisting countries in tracking terrorists in the Sahel region of West Africa, and helping several countries in East Africa to enhance their intelligence capacities.
- 10. His tracks record in Africa seems to be substantial; nonetheless, many people believe that he had ulterior motives behind his humanitarian efforts.
- 11. 1- Congress had not followed through on earlier pledges of assistance, most recently cutting back on the presidents request for the MCA. Worst of all, only one nation has been approved for funding, and its allocation was reduced. Table 2. Millennium Challenge Account Funding (In billions of nominal dollars) 2004 2005 2006 Total Administration's illustrative budget 1.70 3.30 5.00 10.00 Administration's 2005 budget authority request 0.99 2.50 5.00 8.49 Congressional budget office (CBO)s projection of outlays 0.05 0.50 1.81 2.36
- 12. The selection of eligible countries and attribution of funds would be subject to double standard jurisdiction. Gaughran and Mollett (2004) argued that the increasing focus on counterterrorism and security had influenced aid allocation and the nature of donor co- operation with developing countries.
- 13. 2- While democracy has been stated as a major objective, there are very limited funds for Africa within worldwide democracy programs, and no articulated strategy to address the major challenges to democracy that loom in the influential states of Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Uganda, or the tyranny in Zimbabwe that was singled out by Secretary Rice. Antiterrorism programs have been primarily military in nature without adequate political oversight or complementary political, public diplomacy, or economic programs.