US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Africa: the 'Super Size Me' tour

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has returned to Africa for an 11-day, seven-country tour of the continent. I use the term “returned to Africa” because Hillary Clinton has been to Africa before, most recently accompanying President Obama during his visit to Egypt in May and in her role as the U.S. ‘First Lady’ during former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s administration. Some readers may not remember the 1997 whirlwind tour through Africa by Hillary Clinton together with her daughter Chelsea. They visited a record six African countries___ Uganda, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, and Senegal.

Following is an excerpt from Ebony Magazine’s coverage of the 1997 trip to Africa:
Ebony Magazine – July 1997 issue (source: findarticles.com)

Hillary Clinton's triumphant trip to Africa; historic voyage marks the most extensive visit by a U.S. first lady

In the most extensive African trip ever undertaken by a U.S. first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton visited six African countries and praised the largely untold story of the continent's social, economic and political progress. Donning African gowns and participating in African dances and ceremonies, the first lady, accompanied by daughter Chelsea, was greeted with the enthusiasm usually reserved for heads of state and movie stars.

Among the highlights of the trip were a visit with President Nelson Mandela to Robben Island, a tour of Soweto, and major speeches in South Africa and Uganda. She also visited Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Africa's newest country, Eritrea. Her first stop in Senegal was at Goree Island, where she peered through "The Door of No Return," through which slaves passed on their way to the dreaded Middle Passage of the Slave Trade. When she arrived in Dakar, Senegal, the first lady was greeted by Senegalese who danced and serenaded her with lyrics written especially for the occasion.

The Ebony magazine article went on to say…

As on all of her foreign trips, Clinton participated in roundtable discussions with prominent women and non-governmental organizations that are helping to build a new civil society. Famous all over the world for the African motto she used for the title of her book, It Takes A Village, Clinton visited for the first time some of the African village-models that inspired the motto. She later praised the efforts of villagers who have constructed their own houses and created health clinics and businesses.

The goodwill tour, undertaken at the request of President Clinton and the U.S. Department of State, was designed, according to her aides, "to underscore the United States' commitment to continued active engagement with the continent and to highlight the progress of democracy . . . women's empowerment and social investments in education, health care (including fighting AIDS), and our collective commitment to the survival and well-being of children." The first first lady to make an African trip of this kind, Clinton deliberately highlighted the positive. Although she did not ignore the massive and continuing problems of poverty, refugees and AIDS, she focused on models of hope.

"I want more Americans," she told reporters, "to know more about what is going on in Africa beyond what is often in the headlines, so if my coming here can bring more attention to the continent . . . I hope that will help Americans have a broader understanding of Africa and understand more fully the real stake we can have in a successful, prosperous, stable Africa in the future."

End excerpts from Ebony Magazine. Read the full article using link below.
Hillary Clinton's triumphant trip to Africa; historic voyage marks the most extensive visit by a U.S. first lady


Fast-forward to July 2009 (12 years later)

In a U.S. Department of State press release issued on July 27, 2009 Ian Kelly issued the following brief statement about the Secretary’s upcoming Africa trip:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's Travel to Africa

Ian Kelly
Department Spokesman
Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
July 27, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin a seven-nation trip to Africa on August 5 at the 8th U.S. – Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (known as the AGOA Forum) in Nairobi, Kenya.

This trip will highlight the Obama administration’s commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy. This will be the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the President and the Secretary of State have visited Africa.

While in Kenya, Secretary Clinton will discuss new approaches to development, including an emphasis on investment and broad-based economic growth. The Secretary will be joined in Kenya by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

During the visit to Kenya, the Secretary will deliver a speech at the Ministerial Opening Ceremony for the AGOA Forum, participate in bilateral meetings with Kenya’s senior leaders, discuss global hunger and agricultural issues at a major research institute, and engage with Kenyan citizens. She will also meet with Sheikh Sharif Amed, the President of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.

The Secretary will continue her travel with stops in South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. In each nation, she will emphasize Africa as a place of opportunity, built on an ethic of responsibility. She will underline America’s commitment to partner with governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and private citizens to build societies where each individual can realize their potential.

In her bilateral meetings and other events, she will encourage new solutions to old challenges, harnessing the power of innovation and technology to provide a foundation for future stability, human development, and sustainable economic growth. She will stress the importance of facilitating social and economic entrepreneurship, encouraging a new generation of young African scientists, small business leaders, entrepreneurs and civic leaders who are solving real problems and establishing new models for economic success and social advances, with women as full partners in this progress. And she will discuss ways to foster good regional governance, partnering with regional leaders to band together to prevent conflict and violence, including gender-based violence, democratic erosions, and transnational threats.

Following her visit to Cape Verde, the Secretary will return to Washington, DC.
End PRN: 2009/782

Note: The errors appearing in the official State Department press release above (dates, spelling) are not mine. The links to external websites have been added to the original document in order to provide bios of respective U.S. government officials.

The fact that Secretary Clinton will be traveling to the continent so shortly after President Obama’s visit to Ghana gives her an opportunity to further promote and clarify U.S. strategies and policies toward key sub-Saharan African countries during the Obama Administration and beyond (long term). This trip should also give the Secretary an opportunity to counter some of the criticism expressed by some African journalists, bloggers and news commentators over President Obama’s keynote speech to Africans delivered in Accra, Ghana on July 11th.

I believe that it is good that Hillary Clinton is finally coming out from under the pervasive shadow of President Obama’s huge popularity abroad (especially in Africa) and ‘struts her own stuff’ to America’s friends and allies in Africa. Let’s face it, Hillary is no pushover and she is also no greenhorn when it comes to foreign affairs and international (and domestic) crises and challenges.

Some contributors to Foreign Policy Magazine (i.e. David Rothkopf) have been giving the secretary a pretty hard time lately re: her life in the shadow of President Obama. To be fair much of the criticism one reads in the press about Hillary’s leadership style at the State Department is unfair. However, the fact that her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, is visiting North Korea and has met with the reclusive leader Kim Jong Il on the same day that Secretary Clinton is to deliver an opening address at the 8th AGOA Forum in Nairobi is yet another PR blunder by planners at the White House and the State Department, similar to the President’s alleged upstaging of Clinton’s major foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this month.

Madam Secretary – an obsessive FP blog about Hillary Clinton
Clinton is going to Africa next week 07/28/09
Clinton: New reality demands different 'global architecture' 07/15/09
Excerpts from Secretary Clinton’s major foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations

The Cabe by Laura Rozen – reporting inside the foreign policy machine
Clinton to Africa 07/27/09
Holbrooke trumpets Clinton leadership after address 07/15/09
Excerpts from Clinton's foreign-policy speech (at the Council on Foreign Relations) 07/15/09
With foreign-policy speech, Clinton plans to raise her profile 07/09/09

David Rothkopf
Ker-plunk: why Clinton’s big speech didn’t make a big splash 07/16/09

It will be interesting to hear what Hillary has to say to African leaders and especially to the all of the people of Africa while on tour on the continent. As with the President’s visit to Ghana, ‘digital diplomacy’ via the use of social media, blogs, YouTube, and other forms of interactive online tools may play a large role in the success or failure of the Secretary’s trip.

CNN International - CNN Video
Clinton’s Digital Diplomacy at the U.S. State Department 08/03/09

PBS MediaShift with Mark Glaser
Public Diplomacy in the Digital Age, Part 1 by Mark Hannah 02/23/09

TED Blog – official blog of the Technology, Entertainment, and Design Conferences
http://blog.ted.com/2009/06/tedstate_today.php 06/03/09
A first-of-its-kind conference between the U.S. Department of State and leading thinkers and speakers at TEDTalks

The American Prospect
The Next Diplomatic Cable by Nancy Scola 07/27/09

Diplopundit
The State Department’s Digital Diplomacy Footprint 06/05/09

DipNote – the U.S. Department of State official blog
Secretary Clinton launches virtual student foreign service initiative 05/13/09

MSNBC.com (Associated Press)
Hillary Clinton: E-diplomat 03/23/09

Which reminds me: Just the other day a staff member of the U.S. State Department’s new media team left a comment to my previous post about President Obama’s visit to Ghana and reactions to his foreign policy speech to Africans. The global feedback to President Obama’s speech has been substantial and it is still continuing. There is absolutely no shortage of dialogue, opinions, and viewpoints from people about how to improve U.S.-Africa policy and relations. Here are just a few of the many articles, editorials, and online forums surrounding President Obama’s Ghana visit and speech that I feel may be of interest to my readers:

America.gov
Live Chat While Watching President Obama’s Speech in Ghana 07/11/09
Transcript of global webchat on President Obama’s speech in Accra, Ghana
Note: Thanks to Mark, the CO-NX webchat moderator for the U.S. Department of State and the Whitehouse during the President’s visit to Africa, for providing us with this information.

Foreign Policy Magazine
The Best Worst Country in Africa
Why Obama is going to Ghana, and why he should push for more progress when he arrives by E. Gyimah-Boadi 07/10/09
E. Gyimah-Boadi is the Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development

Photo Essay: The Obamans Abroad by James Downie 07/24/09
A focus on the recent overseas travel of Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

FP Column – Argument
Obama’s Trash Talk
Why Obama gets it wrong on Africa by Andrew M. Mwenda 07/15/09
Andrew M. Mwenda is Editor-Chief of The Independent newsmagazine (Kampala, Uganda)

Our reply to Obama by O. Natty B. Davis 07/16/09
Liberian government minister responds to Obama’s Ghana address to Africa

Nigeria, a Violent Window of Opportunity by Mark Schneider and Nnamdi Obasi 07/17/09

FP Column: Interview
Aiding the Future: Does U.S. foreign assistance really work? by Michael Wilkerson 07/20/09 – the FP/Oxfam America panel discussion on aid effectiveness

FP Column: Letters
What’s Ailing Africa? by Chanda Chisala 06/22/09
A countrywoman of Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo reflects upon the ill effects of foreign aid to Africa. See related article The Next Big Thing: Africa by Dambisa Moyo, May/June 2009

NPR – National Public Radio (USA)
Foreign Policy: He's Not Our Savior by Andrew Mwenda

C-SPAN (Washington DC, USA)
Washington Journal program, July 11, 2009: President Obama Travels to Africa
Interview with economist George Ayittey (American University, Washington DC) and Q&A with C-Span viewers (video, approximately 30 minutes with Professor George Ayittey – ‘Hat Tip’ to Shay over at Booker Rising for the lead on the Ayittey video)

Newsweek – Newsweek Voices with Fareed Zakaria
Africa's New Path 07/18/09
Interview with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Rwanda’s successes 15 years after the 1994 genocide and his views on President Obama’s speech in Ghana

The Root (TheRoot.com)
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka on Obama in Africa: Obama's Choice 07/14/09
The Nigerian author and Nobel laureate dissects Obama’s trip to Ghana and the message it should send to the corrupt and failing states of Africa


Kenya and the AGOA Forum

The visit to Kenya by senior U.S. government officials including the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, the U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and U.S. Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack along with an entourage of more than 250 American business leaders and government officials from the Department of Commerce, Transportation, and others is unprecedented in the history of U.S.-Kenya relations. This will be Hillary Clinton’s first (official) visit to Kenya and to the capital Nairobi, which is the location of the 8th AGOA Forum and the Kenyan Private Sector Forum.

Of course senior U.S. government officials have been attending opening ceremonies at AGOA forums since the first AGOA Forum opened in Washington D.C. back in October 2001. That’s correct, the first AGOA Forum was NOT hastily cancelled after the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, a fact that some people conveniently overlook. Former U.S. President George W. Bush along with key members of his cabinet was in attendance. President Bush delivered the opening address at that first AGOA conference.

Note: Read more about the U.S. Government’s AGOA program including speeches, remarks, and economic and trade data from previous AGOA conferences by following the links provided in Additional Resources at the end of this post. Pay particular attention the articles and resources at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the AGOA website, and the AGOA Info website.


Back to the future: Has U.S.-Africa policy really changed?

When you compare the June 1997 article from Ebony Magazine to the State Department press release of July 27, 2009 it is evident that Secretary Clinton will be dealing with many of the same issues and themes that she championed 12 years ago. This is interesting when you consider how much has changed on the African continent and around the world since the year 1997. Something that I will be looking for in Secretary Clinton’s statements and speeches will be signs of continuity and consistency in U.S. foreign policy toward African countries in comparison to the policies of previous U.S. administrations.

The Wall Street Journal
Eliot Cohen: What’s Different About the Obama Foreign Policy?
Editorial from Eliot Cohen (John Hopkins University) on the striking continuities between the Bush and Obama administrations on U.S. foreign policy

The Economist
Barack Obama and Africa: How different is his policy? 07/16/09

History News Network
The Moderometer: Charting Obama’s Zig-Zag ... Step Left Domestically, Gesture Left Globally, but Keep Your Foreign Policies Somewhat Centered by Gil Troy 08/03/09

TIME.com
Barack Obama's Foreign Policy: The Five Pillars 07/13/09

I shall also be watching for a major policy statement regarding security concerns in the Horn of Africa and in East African countries, especially how the U.S. government plans to work with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the leaders of the autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. As Clinton speaks with the Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Nairobi, I do hope that she will also be meeting with African Union leaders regarding the struggling AMISOM mission in order to help counter the growing threat by Islamic extremists and militias in Somalia (BBC News: Meeting Somalia’s Al-Shabab).

Security worries and the growing Somali refugee crisis should be a major concern in Kenya while in other East African countries like Tanzania and Uganda everything is (relatively) peaceful. Which makes you wonder, why was Nairobi selected as the venue for this year’s AGOA Forum in the first place? Why didn’t they choose a much safer East African city like Arusha or Dar es Saalam (Tanzania) or Uganda’s capital city (Kampala)?

It is also interesting to note that five countries (Eritrea, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Senegal) previously visited by ‘First Lady’ Hillary Clinton in 1997 have been left off the itinerary of Secretary Clinton’s 2009 Africa tour. Only one African country apparently deserved a repeat visit (Clinton will make three stops in South Africa). Perhaps one shouldn’t read too much into that little factoid, but nonetheless, I wonder why she is returning to South Africa and not visiting Rwanda or Botswana, both countries are good examples of how democracy is taking hold and working in Africa.

Here is some recommended reading material for Madam Secretary Clinton while she is country-hopping around the African continent this week:

The New York Times
Radical Islamists Slip Easily Into Kenya by Jeffrey Gettleman 07/21/09
Al Shabab and Al Qaeda may be crossing the border from Somalia into Kenya

Fears in the West about Al Qaeda Affiliate’s Boldness in Africa 07/09/09
The U.S. military (AFRICOM) is helping train West and North African soldiers to fight against the rise in terrorist activity and attacks by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Letter from China - U.S. Finding Its Voice in Africa Again by Howard French 07/17/09
Howard French was a former bureau chief (Shanghai, West Africa) for the New York Times. He now teaches at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Op-Ed Contributor (Kofi Annan) - Africa and the International Court 06/29/09
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the ‘responsibility to protect’ and the responsibility of African leaders to support the International Criminal Court in bringing to trial leaders charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity

An Interview with Joseph Kabila by Jeffrey Gettleman 04/03/09
A rare interview with the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Washington Post
Clinton to meet Somali president in Africa trip 07/27/09
Corruption Cop: A Conversation with Nigerian Anti-Corruption Crusader Nuhu Ribadu 05/24/09

PBS Frontline World
FRONTLINE/WORLD: The Business of Bribes: Lowell Bergman Investigates – Part 5
Former Nigerian anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu talks to Frontline World about corruption in Africa 05/15/09

Global Post
Worldview: Africa's moment? by Mort Rosenblum 07/07/09
Opinion: hints of light in a not so dark continent
Interview: Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga by Mark Scheffler 07/21/09 (Updated)
An interview with the Kenyan PM during his U.S. visit in May 2009

(The East African)
Kenya: U.S. Embassy Boosts Anti-Graft Book As Smug Kenya Government Looks On 07/27/09
The explosive exposé ‘It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower’ about the life of former Kenyan anti-corruption chief John Kithongo and how corruption works at the highest levels of Kenyan politics and business.

The Daily Nation (Kenya)
Secrets of book about John Kithongo ‘It’s Our Turn to Eat’ 02/15/09
The groundbreaking book about the life of former Kenyan anti-corruption chief John Githongo and corruption in Kenyan politics and business

Royal African Society (UK)
It’s Our Turn to Eat. The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower
An editorial on the release of the book by the author Michela Wrong

U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs – Public Hearings
New Challenges for International Peacekeeping July 29, 2009
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Susan E. Rice, gives testimony on America’s commitment to international peacekeeping operations and conflict resolution in Africa (Sudan, DR Congo, and Somalia)

Sudan: U.S. Policy and Implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement July 29, 2009
John Prendergast (co-founder of the Enough Project), SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum Okiech, former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Richard S. Williamson

U.S. Department of State YouTube Channel
Video of Ambassador Susan E. Rice’s July 29th testimony on international peacekeeping before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Associated Press (source: Google News)
US warns Eritrea over activity in Somalia 07/29/09

BBC News
Mugabe calls US envoy 'an idiot' 07/06/09
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe insults Obama’s lead diplomat for Africa on the sidelines of the 13th African Union Summit in Sirte, Libya. There have been no apologies to date from the African Union leadership about this embarrassing incident.
Summit takes AU back to its roots 07/01/09
A report about the 13th African Union Summit in Sirte, Libya


Country-hopping around Africa

The list of African nations that Secretary Clinton will be visiting is impressive, especially the selection of Liberia (America’s closest ally in Africa), Nigeria (the giant of Africa), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yes Lord! Secretary Clinton is scheduled to travel to the eastern DRC to learn what’s been going on with her own eyes and ears). I am assured that Clinton’s visit to Goma in the eastern DR Congo, her talks with the female victims of incredible sexual violence at the hands of the Interahamwe (Hutu militias) and regular Congolese army soldiers, the poverty and hopelessness she will see in the eyes of women and children of the many refugee camps spread across the region, will change her outlook on life___ forever.

Hillary Clinton will also be visiting the nation of Angola, America’s (and China’s) largest African supplier of petroleum. Angola was formerly a self-declared Marxist state and a ‘bitter enemy’ of the United States during the Cold War years. Angola (historically called the Kingdom of Kongo – 15th century) was also a major source of black African slaves to the New World during the transatlantic slave trade. The first African slaves to arrive at a permanent settlement in Colonial America (Jamestown ca.1619-20) were from Angola. Today, Angola is America’s newest partner in sub-Saharan Africa for private capital investments. The Cape Verde Islands (cool those aching, tired feet of yours Hillary in the beautiful sand and surf of this West African paradise) will be the last stop on Madame Secretary’s 2009 Africa tour.

According to the State Department Secretary Clinton plans to meet not only with senior government officials and business leaders in the countries she will be visiting, she will also meet with African community leaders and activists, young entrepreneurs and students, and ordinary ‘working class’ folks. I believe that Secretary Clinton will hold a series of public town hall-style meetings, debates and forums. If this is true, exactly who has been invited to these events and how were they selected? I’m fairly certain that Secretary Clinton’s staff at the State Department along with staff from respective U.S. embassies have helped to select the attendees for these planned forums and roundtable discussions.

However, in case the invitation lists have not been finalized, here are a few of my tips for State Department staffers who are involved with the selection process. These are people that I feel Clinton should invite and listen to during her visit to Africa, people who have earned and enjoy respect and admiration not only from various online communities of bloggers and social networks, but who also deserve to be bathed in the spotlight of the international news media that will be following Secretary Clinton’s every word and move on this journey to Africa.

Kenya
Ory Okolloh (Harvard educated lawyer, activist, and author of Kenyan Pundit)
TED Global Africa Conference June 2007

TEDTalks video: Ory Okolloh on becoming an activist
Ushaidi – a crisis mapping and online communication networking platform ‘Made in Kenya’

Daudi Were (Nairobi, Kenya) profile at Generation Kenya
Mentalacrobatics (the popular blog authored by Daudi Were)
Kenya Unlimited – an award-winning network of more than 600 Kenyan bloggers founded by Daudi Were that operated from 2005 thru 2007

Transcript of webchat with US Ambassador to Kenya 01/21/09
On the eve of President Obama’s inauguration, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger hosted a webchat with citizens of Kenya on U.S.-Kenya relations

Kelele.org – Kelele 2009 Pan-African Blogger Conference
Kelele: First African Bloggers' Conference Scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya 07/22/09

James Shikwati (IREN, The African Executive)
Kenyan economist and publisher of The African Executive business magazine

Wangari Maathai
Founder of the Green Belt Movement and 2004 Nobel laureate

Angola, South Africa
Ana F. Santana (Angolan-born economic historian and educator, a graduate of the London School of Economics, and author of the K Faktor blog)

Ana on the growing economic and political relationship between Angola and China
REVISITING ANGOLA AT A TIME OF ECONOMIC CHANGE 07/28/09

Ana on the July 2009 speech by President Obama delivered in Accra, Ghana
BREVES NOTAS SOBRE O DISCURSO DE OBAMA NO GHANA 07/23/09

Nigeria
Sokari Ekine (London, UK, Nigeria) – Nigerian activist and prolific writer, author/editor of the award-winning Black Looks group blog and online news editor at Pambazuka News (Oxford, UK)
G20 Voice – a citizen media project at the G20 Summit in London April 2009
Meet the G20Voice bloggers: 50 leading blog authors from around the globe

CNBC Africa video (source: VPod)
Live at 2009 G20 Summit in London: Bob Geldof, Daudi Were and Sokari Ekine

Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo
Cédric Kalonji (DR Congo, France) – a former journalist at Radio Okapi and one of the DR Congo’s top blog authors, presently living and studying in France. He was the first of 50 blog authors selected for the G20 Voices project at the 2009 G20 Summit in London. Cédric Kalonji’s personal blog and his work at Congoblog.net

Rosebell Kagumire (Kampala, Uganda) – Rosebell is an investigative journalist working presently at The Independent, a weekly news magazine published by Ugandan journalist/editor Andrew M. Mwenda. Rosebell’s personal blog (Rosebell’s Blog) was one of the winners of the 2008 Waxal Blogging Award for African Journalists. A profile of background can be found at McGill University Law School website for the 2007 Global Conference on the Prevention of Genocide.

Andrew M. Mwenda (publisher of The Independent weekly newsmagazine)

Pan-African Voices on U.S.-Africa Policy
Global Voices Online
Obama in Africa (Ghana) 2009 archives
Africa: Winners of the First African Blog Award for Journalists Announced 03/02/09

2008 Waxal Blogging Awards for African Journalists
A joint project sponsored by The Panos Institute – West Africa, Highway Africa (South Africa), and Global Voices Online (founded at The Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University School of Law)


Related articles, editorials, and additional resources

DipNote – the U.S. Department of State official blog
Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Departs for Africa 08/03/09
A New Era of Engagement 07/15/09
Summary of Secretary Clinton’s foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations (full video and text)
Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) 07/14/09
Secretary Clinton address U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid reform at the USAID
A New Moment of Promise by Shanique Streete (U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana) 07/13/09
President Obama in Ghana 07/12/09
Townhall meeting by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to announce the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review 07/10/09 (text and video)

America.gov – Engaging the World
Briefing on Assistance to Somalia Transitional Federal Government 06/26/09
Opening Statement by Assistant Secretary-Designate Johnnie Carson 04/29/09
Testimony (confirmation hearing) by the new Assistant Secretary for African Affairs before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
America.gov – Africa news and features

U.S. Department of State
Briefing on Secretary Clinton's Upcoming Trip to Africa by Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary - Bureau of African Affairs (text, video) 07/30/09
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Travel to Africa 07/27/09

U.S. Department of State – Bureau of African Affairs
“Confronting Drug Trafficking in West Africa” (PDF) 06/23/09
Testimony of Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson (Bureau of African Affairs) before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs

AGOA – African Growth and Opportunity Act (USA)
AGOA Forums: Information, speeches, remarks and videos from the 1st through 8th AGOA Forums
Introduction: the 1st AGOA Forum held in Washington DC October 29-30, 2001
AGOA News and resources
The 8th Annual AGOA Forum official website (Nairobi, Kenya August 4-6, 2009)
AGOA Forum Seeks to Expand U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment (America.gov) 06/30/09
U.S.-African Trade Profile 2009 (PDF)

Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) - Ambassador Ron Kirk
"Toward a New U.S.-African Partnership on Trade and Development" by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk 08/03/09
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Florie Liser Speaks About AGOA Forum (video and text) 08/01/09
"Trade Is Key to Africa’s Economic Growth" (USTR blog) 07/23/09
An interview with Assistant USTR for Africa Florizelle Liser ahead of the 8th AGOA Forum to be held in Nairobi, Kenya
Report Shows AGOA Continues to Grow and Diversify U.S.-Africa Trade (Office of the United States Trade Representative) – May 2008

AGOA Info (a portal operated by the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa)
Envoy hails Clinton’s trip to Africa, focus on hunger, AGOA (America.gov) 08/01/09
Eighth AGOA Forum more critical than ever, says Ambassador Carson (America.gov) 07/29/09
Africa: Enhanced US market access critical (America.gov) 07/24/09
Kenyan farmers reap gloom from American market (Business Daily Africa) 07/23/09

The Corporate Council on Africa (Washington DC)
7th Biennial U.S. - Africa Business Summit Sep 29 – Oct 1, 2009 - Washington DC
CCA 2008 US-Africa Infrastructure Conference

VOA News
Clinton Leaves on a Seven-Nation Africa Visit 08/02/09
Article includes an audio interview with Professor Okey Onyejekwe – UNECA Director of Governance
Supporting The Somali People 08/03/09
An editorial reflecting the views of the US Government
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Visit Africa 07/28/09


Technorati tags:Africa business news USA America politics Barack Obama Hillary Clinton foreign policy US foreign policy global trade foreign aid AGOA commerce global voices

The First 100 Days: a worldview of U.S. President Barack Obama's foreign policy achievements and missteps during his first 100 days in office

Note to my readers:

I am a bit surprised that there is such a widespread interest in what has been an American press & news media tradition of reviewing the first 100 days of a new U.S. president. But with President Barack Obama, a man who has captured the hearts and imaginations of so many people around the globe, a president who is fondly referred to here in Germany as ‘The World President’, almost every word he says and every move he makes is of interest to millions outside of the United States.

Over the past several weeks I have been focused on foreign affairs news and reports that of course have impacted President Obama’s first 100 days in office. Like a number of experienced foreign policy hands whose opinions I have provided below, I feel that the first 100 days in office for this new U.S. administration is far too short a period of time to make a sound judgment about how they will perform over the long term. But I will say this: from what I have read, heard, and seen so far from the Obama administration in its first 100 days in office, I am very pleased and mighty proud of this young president and his team. The challenges ahead are many and some of the crises we face may seem insurmountable, but I believe that President Obama has instilled a new spirit of cooperation and can-do willpower not only in his many young fans around the world, but he has also inspired experienced political leaders and older foreign policy hands in the capitals of America’s traditional friends and allies.

Even the Castro brothers are looking rather dreamy-eyed toward Miami and Washington D.C. these days, much to the relief of the Cuban people and many of America’s close friends and neighbors in the Caribbean, Central, and South America. If President Obama and his new team can breakdown the barriers that have existed between Cuba and the U.S.A for the past 50 years, that would warm the planet up by another 10° Celsius just from the partying and celebrations. Then you would have a serious (albeit temporary) global warming problem on your hands.

The articles, editorials, and special feature reports listed below are on my ‘must-read list’ for the coming weekend. I just wanted to share them with my loyal readers and fellow blog authors from around the world who serve as a constant inspiration to me. Note that there is precious little in these expert commentaries and opinions about the Obama administration’s foreign policy and outreach to African countries, but I do expect to read, see, and hear a lot more from President Obama regarding America’s strategic policies toward Africa in the coming weeks and months.

The Next 100 Days will be crucial not only for the administration of this young, dynamic U.S. president but for the whole world. I sincerely hope that more and more people around the globe finally begin to work together to help solve the problems and crises that threaten us all. Don’t fret and please don’t panic! Learn to work together for peace and prosperity for all.

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Foreign Policy Magazine – March/April and May/June 2009 issues
Foreign Policy: Obama's Report Card
Foreign Policy Magazine asked some of the world’s best foreign policy experts to rate the U.S. president’s first 100 days in office. This is one of the best roundups that I have read on the foreign policy achievements, missteps, and challenges that face the Obama administration over the next four years. The results from no less than 41 leading global thinkers on President Obama’s performance so far may surprise you.

FP Passport – a blog from the editors at Foreign Policy magazine
The 100th day of the Obama administration FP Passport by Annie Lowry 04/29/09
FP Passport authors are always on top of the important foreign policy issues. U.S. President Obama is reported to be a regular reader of this excellent publication, as is yours truly and many other people worldwide who are interested in foreign affairs.

David J. Rothkopf – a blog authored by the noted author and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The surprise winners and losers of Barack Obama’s first 100 days 04/27/09

The Cable – Laura Rozen reports from inside the foreign policy machine in Washington D.C.
Clinton's 100 days: the mileage The Cable 04/23/09

Shadow Government – a group blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition.
Questions for Obama at 100 days Shadow Government 04/28/09
Questions the media won’t ask the President during his 100 Days press conference

Other interesting feature articles and blog posts at Foreign Policy magazine:
FP Magazine cover story (feature article) – May/June 2009 issue
The Revenge of Geography by Robert D. Kaplan
Does the U.N. cooperate with indicted war criminals? - FP Passport 04/29/09
Planet Holbrooke and envoy nation - The Cable 04/29/09
The Holbrooke Afghanistan conference you can't go to - The Cable 04/21/09


Newsweek Magazine – International Edition
The Next 100 Days – a Newsweek special feature on the challenges ahead
Hirsh: As Foreign Policy Takes Center Stage, So Will Hillary by Michael Hirsh 04/29/09

First 100 Days – a Newsweek special feature
Obama's Foreign Policy Is More Nixon Than Carter by Michael Freedman 04/25/09
Barack Obama is no Jimmy Carter. He’s Richard Nixon.
Alter: How Successful Were Obama's First 100 Days? By Jonathan Alter 04/25/09
With all that the president has done, he’s in a league, so far, with FDR and LBJ. But early success is just that.
First 100 Days: Obama Fulfills Promises to Youth by Ben Adler 04/28/09


The Washington Post
Obama's First 100 Days: a Washington Post special feature
Obama Emphasizes Sharp Departures From Bush Policies by Michael D. Shear, Michael A. Fletcher, and Scott Wilson 04/30/09
From the Start, Putting a Bold Stamp on the White House by Dan Balz 04/29/09
What Historians Say 04/29/09
Topic A -- The Next 100 Days of the Obama Administration 04/26/09
The Post asked former officials, strategists and others for their thoughts on the next phase of the Obama administration. Below are contributions from Allan J. Lichtman, Thomas A. Daschle, Alan S. Blinder, Meghan O'Sullivan, Martin Neil Baily, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paul Wolfowitz, Kathleen Dalton, Elaine L. Chao, Robert Shrum, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ed Rogers and Paula J. Dobriansky.


The New York Times – NY Times blogs
The Caucus – the politics and government blog of the New York Times
The President’s 100th Day by Jeff Zeleny 04/29/09
Live Blogging the President’s News Conference by Peter Baker and Adam Nagourney 04/29/09
The Early Word: Benchmark by Kate Phillips and Ashley Southall 04/29/09

100-Day Diary - Making New Policies, Reversing Old Ones
Issue: Foreign Policy

100 Days – a blog authored by five U.S. presidential biographers
Obama at 100 Days: How Does He Compare? 04/28/09

On the Ground – a blog about globalization and human rights by two-time Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and New York Times’ columnist Nicholas D. Kristof
Appeasement of Sudan? 04/27/09
Kristof takes issue with the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis in Darfur and the issuing of an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president by the ICC. I’m with Nick on this one. WTF is going on with you guys back in Washington! Arrest that sucker!

New York Times: Politics and Government - White House and Congress
Full coverage of the political scene in the United States of America


The Root – an online magazine about African American news and viewpoints from Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive
100 Days, A Million Headaches by Terence Samuel and Dayo Olopade 04/29/09
Michelle Obama's First 100 Days by Dayo Olopade 04/30/09
President Obama's First 100 Not So Black Days in Office by Terence Samuel 04/27/09



Spiegel Online (international edition of Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine)
Opinion: The Most Expensive President Since 1945 04/30/09
100 Days of Obama: The Instant American Revolution 04/29/09
Closing Guantanamo: US Attorney General Asks Europe for Help by Marcel Rosenbach 04/30/09
From Mania to Mistrust: Europe's Obama Euphoria Wanes by gregor Peter Schmitz 03/30/09

Other news in English from Der Spiegel and its European partner publications NRC Handelsblad - International (The Netherlands) and Politiken (Denmark)

The World from Berlin: 'The German Military is in Afghanistan to Secure the Country' 04/30/09 (a must read – Germany’s politicians in Berlin are ‘helping to lose the war in Afghanistan’ and getting German troops killed in greater numbers due to Berlin’s unwillingness to take an offensive position against the Taliban and al-Qaeda)
Is 2009 the New 1929?: Current Crisis Shows Uncanny Parallels to Great Depression by Der Spiegel staff 04/29/09


allAfrica.com – aggregating content from more than 120 African newspapers and media organizations
The Daily Independent (Lagos, Nigeria)
Opinion: President Obama's First 100 Days 04/28/09

Reuters News / Reuters Africa
The First 100 Days - Barack Obama full coverage special feature
Obama's many challenges overshadow Africa by Daniel Wallis 04/28/09

National Security Network (don’t ask, just read it…recommended by FP Passport)
100 Days, 100 Foreign Policy Achievements 04/27/09


Technorati tags:America USA Barack Obama Obama politics government foreign policy foreign affairs global voices

Seven Questions Interview Q&A Nr.6: Africa and the U.S. Presidential Campaign

Note: I felt that I should publish my answer to interview question number 6 out of sequence so that readers would easily notice it. Bearing in mind the the state of world affairs being discussed at the UN General Assembly 2008 meeting in New York this week, the U.S. presidential campaign moving into its final critical weeks, and the recent Wall Street financial crisis that rocked stock markets and economies worldwide, consider this a 'Heads Up' post for the world.

Read Part 1 (Q&A Nrs. 1,2,3) of the Seven Questions interview here
Read Part 2 (Q&A Nrs. 4,5) of the Seven Questions interview here
Koluki is crossposting excerpts from the interview at her blog


Seven Questions for Jewels in the Jungle
(continued from Q&A Nr. 5)

6. How do you think each American Presidential candidate, Barack Obama and John McCain, would impact America's relationship with Africa if elected?

You know, when I first saw this question I thought it would be difficult to answer because I have heard precious little in this campaign from either John McCain or Barack Obama about how they view America’s foreign policy toward Africa. But after taking some time to do a bit of careful research on the subject I’ve come across some very interesting factual information on the subject.

One thing that should be noted is that this U.S. election campaign may be one of the most closely watched political events in human history. As I explained in a previous post about Senator Barack Obama’s July visit to Germany the overseas interest and excitement about this campaign is phenomenal. It is bigger than anything that has come out of American political life for decades and the outcome of this presidential election is important not only for U.S. voters but for citizens around the globe.

It’s hard for Americans living abroad to explain the dirty politics and negative personal attacks that have emerged in this campaign. The level of ‘political attack ads’ are shocking not only for Americans and veteran U.S. political journalists but also for many foreign observers following this election. Darrell M. West of the Brookings Institution describes this aggressive behavior as an all-time low in U.S. political campaign history. If patriotic Americans are truly sincere about improving the country’s standing and image abroad then the Republicans and Democrats need to rein in this toxic behavior at all levels of their respective campaigns. The presidential candidates need to get back to discussing real issues and offering solutions for the mounting problems that we all are facing. The upcoming presidential debate on September 26 would be a good place to start.

The global phenomenon surrounding the Obama campaign for President is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience and I shall not forget it as long as I live. This man’s candidacy has inspired people from all walks of life and has instilled a special feeling of pride and new hope for a better world in many people of every color, ethnicity, and nationality. It is a pity that the Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, an accomplished and distinguished U.S. politician, has not been able to arouse a similar level of excitement and interests in these elections outside of the United States.

I have been approached countless times by people in Germany who want to eagerly discuss the 2008 U.S. election campaign and the historic candidacy of Senator Barack Obama. They want to talk about everything from race relations in the U.S. to how national politics really works in America. This election campaign is especially exciting for my African friends and other people of color in Europe who seem to have adopted Obama’s run for President as if he were the leader of their own respective countries. Obama’s candidacy represents a powerful and symbolic break with these people’s own colonial past and collective dreams for the future. My experiences are something special and I think that we as Americans cannot afford to ignore this important message from so many people from every corner of the world. As reported in several newspapers and TV news networks Europe’s fascination with Senator Obama is unusually high. Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine conducted a reader poll that showed an overwhelming amount of support for Barack Obama over John McCain by a whopping margin of 83%. Newsweek’s new sister publication The Root.com has a related article on Obama’s global appeal titled ‘The World in His Hands’ that is also worth reading as it echoes what we already know here in Europe.

I try to caution people (especially young African men) not to be overly confident about Senator Obama easily winning this election in America but I get the feeling that many people are simply not listening. I enjoy explaining to them how U.S. politics works and the importance of this historical presidential election. Their interest has remained keen over the many months of campaigning and news coverage by CNN and BBC News and our conversations about politics in America and in Africa are lively and informative. My hope is that my young friends and acquaintances will take something from this experience with them back to their own home countries in Africa. That some of these young Africans will become active in the politics of their country and work hard to bring the benefits of a true democracy to their people. I expect to see their names in Africa’s good news headlines someday.

So as far as the presidential candidate Barack Obama impacting the U.S.A.’s relationship with Africa and Africans, he has already done it and he has done it in a very big way. Just the manner in which he has handled himself so far in this very challenging political campaign has inspired many African people for generations to come. If it were left up to the world to choose the next U.S. president, the 2008 race for the White House would already be over. The November polls in the United States would simply be a formality in keeping with our constitution.

I think that good people around the world are desperately trying to send a strong message to Americans, pleading with us to make informed and intelligent decisions about our leaders in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. They are trying to tell us that the person who sits in the Oval Office of the White House come January 21, 2009 is damn important for their lives and future too. These are voices that we must not ignore as American voters, no matter which political party we adhere to, we dare not ignore the pleas and hopes and dreams of our friends and allies around the world. So for the remaining few weeks leading up to the U.S. general election on November 4, 2008 I hope that my fellow Americans behave in a manner that is becoming of a great nation and a great people. It would go a long way in helping to restore the world’s confidence in America and it might help many of us to restore confidence in ourselves.
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Now to get back to your question, what was your question?
Oh yes, how do I think that each U.S. presidential candidate would impact America’s relationship with Africa?

I think that both U.S. presidential candidates, no matter who wins in November, will have little opportunity to devote a great deal of attention and energy toward Africa during their first year in office. It is not that John McCain and Barack Obama does not care about what happens in Africa or does not want better US-Africa relations. All of the U.S. presidential candidates have expressed their views and ideas about U.S. foreign policy and you can read what they have said at the Council of Foreign Relations Campaign 2008 website: The Candidates on U.S. Policy toward Africa.

In my opinion the problem is that the next U.S. president will be immediately faced by a mountain of problems as soon as he opens the door to the Oval Office on January 21, 2009. Like a swarm of locusts the world’s problems and crises will be all over the incoming president, things that need his immediate and special attention and his most valuable asset, his time. The urgent needs of African countries may be in danger of being shuffled toward the bottom of the President’s ‘TO DO list’ yet again as has been the case in previous administrations. It is not only the incoming U.S. president who will be confronted with these mounting problems as we shall witness at the UN General Assembly 2008 meeting in New York this week. Africa’s needs and challenges are at great risk in the face of a global financial crises, climate change, food shortages, and conflict.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, this is exactly what will happen in the first 100 days of next U.S. administration until the President can assemble his new cabinet and get a handle on what needs to be done immediately and what can wait until later. Once the President’s foreign policy team has been selected and assembled, African leaders and advocates and activists will concentrate on building a working relationship with the administration, including meeting with the next U.S. Secretary of State and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. This will be the first order of business in Washington DC for Africa’s diplomats and political and business leaders.

The new president as with administrations past will be listening very closely to the advice and recommendations of his national security and foreign policy advisors before he makes any decisions about steering a new U.S. policy course toward Africa or anywhere else in the world. The 2008 Democratic presidential campaign team has assembled about three hundred advisors to assist their candidate Senator Barack Obama with foreign policy issues. I’d say with that large number of policy experts and seasoned U.S. diplomats the Democrats are taking U.S. foreign policy seriously. I don’t know if the 2008 Republican campaign team has an equal number of foreign policy advisors to help Senator John McCain but perhaps he doesn’t need them. After all Senator McCain has been around for a long time in Washington DC and he is also well known by many diplomats and world leaders. John McCain does get his world leaders and their countries a bit mixed up every now and then like he did with Spain’s Prime Minister Zapatero and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez. Heck, a slipup like that could happen to anybody at that age. Whatever the number of foreign policy advisors and experts that are holed up in each party’s camp we shall see how well versed each candidate is on U.S. foreign policy issues in the opening Presidential Debate to be televised on September 26th.

CNN aired a special program this past weekend titled ‘The Next President: A World of Challenges’. Veteran news correspondents Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno played host to five (5) former U.S. secretaries of state. The program was taped on September 15 at George Washington University in a roundtable discussion titled “The Next President and U.S. Foreign Policy: Guiding Principles and Global Challenges”. Unfortunately for those of us who live outside of North America the CNN special aired at 03:00 CET on Sunday September 21st. I don’t know about you but I am asleep at 0300 hours unless there is an emergency or something. During the roundtable discussion at GWU former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was asked what he thought about an Obama victory in November. He made it clear that he had not yet made up his mind on who he would vote for but Colin Powell did say that an Obama victory “would be electrifying”. I agree with Powell, an Obama victory would stun the world. The CNN.com Election Center 2008 website has more on the roundtable event: Ex-secretaries of state share advice for next president and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° program blog has published two posts about the event as well:

Excerpt from Frank Sesno’s post at CNN’s AC360°

There we were, sitting alongside five people who had made history and shaped American foreign policy for nearly four decades. Vietnam and détente. Hot war with Iraq and Cold War with the Soviet Union. Mideast peace conferences and arms control. Kosovo and Iran. Rwanda and Iraq. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the scourge of drought, poverty and AIDS in the developing world. Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell. Five former American Secretaries of State. The conversation was remarkable for its candor, depth and realism.

We gathered at the George Washington University, where I teach, to talk about the challenges facing the next American president. Christiane Amanpour brought her experience and hard edge to the questioning. The list of challenges we asked about was daunting– from big global issues like climate change and poverty to decisions about how to deal with the new, more assertive Russia, how to handle Iraq and Afghanistan, whether to reach out to Iran, how to fight terrorism and fix America’s tattered image in the world.

Here’s what the secretaries’ bottom line was: get over it. Get real. Be smart. The world is a complicated place. America has to lead. Play down the ideology, they seemed to say, and approach the world rationally and with perspective. Imagine that.

Read more at AC360°
Former Secretaries of State to Next President: Get over it. Be real. Be smart.

Excerpt from Christiane Amanpour’s post at CNN’s AC360°

One of the most interesting areas where they differed was Darfur and the question of Genocide. These hardened diplomats were torn – but they agreed that U.S. intervention was not in the cards. Even Secretary Powell who told us he had first called it genocide on behalf of the US government:

Colin Powell: “You look at something like Darfur, and it just breaks your heart. But the ultimate solution to the crisis in Darfur is a political solution between the rebels and the government in Khartoum.”

Madeline Albright:” Well, I think it’s in the U.S. national interests, in fact, to do something about humanitarian situations that lead to or are genocidal. And the question is how you get the will of the American people behind it. It is not easy. But I’ll say this is, if you’re the United States, you’re damned if you do or damned if you don’t. We intervened in Somalia, and people thought that was a mistake. We didn’t intervene in Rwanda, and people thought that was a mistake.”

James A. Baker III: “When you formulate and implement foreign policy — and I bet you everybody here would agree with this — you have got to take America’s principles and values into consideration. And we’re talking here now about principles and values. But you also have to have a healthy dose of national interest involved, because otherwise you lose the support of the American people. Your foreign policy can only be sustained as long as you bring the American people along with it. They are the final arbiter of foreign policy in our democracy. We cannot be the policemen for the world“.

Yes, but Darfur is a big topic on US campuses, with a serious grass roots movement to stop the genocide there. When the Secretaries started laying this on “bringing the American people along”, I was sorely tempted to turn to the audience for a show of hands. I am sure there would have been an overwhelming call for action from the floor. I’m sorry I didn’t ask.

Read more at AC360°
Five Former Secretaries of State: Cracking diplomacy, and jokes


Here are more reasons why I think that Africa’s issues and concerns will not be a very high priority in the first 12 months of the incoming U.S. administration:

1. Just this week Wall Street and major financial markets around the globe are facing yet another economic meltdown. Financial mismanagement and very reckless behavior by top managers at key multinational investment banks and mammoth insurance companies will be costing U.S. taxpayers dearly if and when the dust ever settles over this mess. I’ve read news analysis that say that the bill to American taxpayers for the failures on Wall Street this year alone could reach US$ 1 trillion___ that’s right, 1 trillion dollars with a t!

Fingers of blame are pointing in every which direction while it is clear that there has been poor government oversight and regulation of the U.S. banking and insurance industries. And it is also evident that the Barons of Wall Street have gone completely mad with a lot of other people’s money. People are deeply pissed off at America about this financial crisis from Peoria to Persia and if it were not for massive financial help from the central banks in Europe and Asia the U.S. economy would be near collapse.

One of the first things that the new U.S. president must do immediately after taking office in January is to come up with a solid plan and expert team to address this massive problem. “It’s the economy, stupid!” happening all over again just like on the eve of President Clinton’s first administration but this time even the world’s smartest economists are dumbfounded about what to do next and how global markets can dig themselves out of this deep hole. So if you have any good ideas about how to fix this mess send them to the expert panel of economists assembled by the New York Times.


2. The War in Iraq is looking as if there may be some light at the end of the tunnel after all with the handover of command of coalition forces by General David Patraeus to General Ray Odierno. Although the terrible sectarian violence and number of suicide bombings and wanton killings are down in most parts of the country, Iraq is still a nation desperately seeking peace and stability and resolution to its many problems and challenges.

The next U.S. president will be saddled with the responsibility of managing continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, including the drawdown of U.S. forces in the country and helping the Iraqi government with reconstruction. Iraq and Afghanistan will be as great a burden on the next U.S. president as it was on President George W. Bush, and the emerging tensions between the U.S. and the nuclear-armed unstable government in Pakistan may prove to be the nightmare that nobody dared dream. These conflicts and crises will continue to weigh heavily on America’s human and financial resources and God forbid that all Hell breaks loose somewhere else on the planet. If it does, we are all doomed for sure.

3. The elusive search for peace in the Middle East, the nuclear negotiations with North Korea and Iran, combating the resurgence of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan and fighting extremism and terrorists worldwide (including in Africa), dealing with a wide assortment of problems that impact U.S. relations with our many neighbors south of the border (Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti…) __ all of these foreign policy challenges will be stacked high upon the next U.S. president’s desk in January 2009.

And right next to this stack of red hot foreign affairs issues will be another pile of problems and challenges labeled “U.S. Domestic Crises and Issues”. This stack has absolute top priority in the lives of U.S. citizens and voters. Addressing these issues expediently and successfully in the eyes of the American people will determine if the new U.S. president and his administration can keep their jobs. These U.S. domestic issues include the following but is not limited to this short list:

a) The U.S. economy and the huge mess in the investment banking industry
b) National security and public safety
c) U.S. job security and reducing unemployment to negligible levels
d) Addressing America’s business needs and stimulating economic growth
e) Providing healthcare insurance for all U.S. citizens (100%)
f) Improving access to higher education and better education for all Americans
g) Energy issues ranging from sourcing and securing America’s energy supplies to reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and gas
h) Developing new and renewable energy technologies for new energy sources
i) Straightening out the legal/illegal immigration mess that affect millions and millions of Latino families in a way that works best for everybody

I think that you get the idea, that the list of problems and challenges facing the incoming president is unending___ always has been for U.S. presidents since the birth of the republic. And it shall always be this way so as long as the United States of America stands and attempts to maintain its position as a leader among democratic nations in the world.

So where does Africa fit into this picture, into the strategic foreign policies of the United States of America?

Where are African issues in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign?

What do Africans need to know about the U.S. presidential candidates?

How will the outcomes of the U.S. elections affect the everyday lives of Africans and will they help improve the prospects for Africa’s future?

The Africa Focus Bulletin team at the University of Illinois and in Washington DC has just published a feature article that addresses some of these questions. The collection of editorials from the editors and distinguished scholars is titled “U.S.A./Africa: New Policy Prospects?” Here is an excerpt from that fine Africa Focus feature:

Wanted: A New U. S. Africa Policy
by Merle Bowen and William Minter

[Merle Bowen directs the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. William Minter, in Washington, DC, edits the on-line publication AfricaFocus Bulletin.

…Almost 15 years after Nelson Mandela took office in South Africa, the United States still lacks a coherent Africa policy. There are pieces of such a policy - support for the war against AIDS is now a bipartisan consensus, and both presidential candidates have pledged to focus on Darfur. Neither candidate, however, has laid out a policy framework that can serve both African and American interests.

…In recent years some other African issues have attracted attention, and activists have pressured Washington to act.

On AIDS the results have been significant, even if still inadequate. President Clinton, whose administration was missing in action on AIDS in Africa, became an effective campaigner on the issue after leaving office. President Bush, whose USAID administrator initially dismissed antiretroviral treatment for Africans as impractical because "Africans can't tell time," now finds that the presidential AIDS program is one of the few accomplishments he can claim for history.

On other issues - conflict, human rights, debt, trade, and development - the record is less inspiring. The Clinton administration shared the international failure to act against genocide in Rwanda. On Darfur, the Bush administration has offered heady rhetoric but little effective action. More generally, neither the Clinton nor Bush years provide a good model. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush raised the U.S. profile in Africa, but neither followed up the hopes they raised with consistent action.

This record looms large today given the absence of new proposals from the candidates and the projected makeup of their foreign policy teams. McCain's Africa policy may well resemble the disastrous Reagan years, noted for U.S. collaboration with the apartheid South African regime and African dictators. One of McCain's top strategists, Charles Black, was a lobbyist for Angola's Jonas Savimbi and other U.S.-backed African warlords. Obama's most prominent advisors, veterans of the Clinton administration, include Anthony Lake, who presided over the failure to respond to Rwanda, and Susan Rice, who has proposed direct U.S. troop intervention in Darfur a step which would almost certainly escalate the killing.

Neither candidate has criticized the disastrous Bush policy on Somalia, where it encouraged Ethiopian military intervention and worsened one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Both have endorsed AFRICOM, a new military command that risks reinforcing an already over-militarized U.S. response to Africa. Opportunistic support for dictators continues, while crises and conflicts - some, such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, surpassing Darfur in casualties - are ignored.

With his openness to multilateral cooperation and his personal connections, Senator Obama has the potential for crafting a constructive Africa policy. But without an alternative framework, and active public pressure, the path of least resistance will likely follow narrow conceptions of U.S. national interests, as in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. Anti-terrorism, Africa's oil, and competition with China are all real concerns. But pursuing those goals without attending to Africa's own needs would be self-defeating.

A new policy must encompass the diversity of African countries and of U.S. interests. There are no magic formulas. Nevertheless, there are principles that should apply:

Build on the example of the response to AIDS, both multilateral and bilateral to address African needs in health, education, food, economic infrastructure, and the environment, with all countries paying their fair share.

Open a genuine dialogue about trade and development policy, instead of imposing rigid free-market policies that are systematically biased in favor of rich countries.

Minimize bilateral military involvement in Africa, which risks sucking the U.S. into local conflicts, in favor of multilateral diplomacy and peacekeeping, including paying U.S. peacekeeping arrears at the UN.

Stop aiding repressive regimes, and support democratic African solutions, as in the aftermath of the election in Kenya. This crisis, which threatened to turn into a civil war earlier this year, was peacefully resolved through African mediation led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The U.S. played a supportive rather than an ostentatious role.

Rely on skilled African diplomats, who include many distinguished former presidents, for dealing with other crises, as was done in Kenya. Despite the negative example of Thabo Mbeki's ineffective mediation in Zimbabwe, the fact remains that no initiative is likely to succeed unless African civil society and political leaders are in the forefront.

Support the large community of recent African immigrants to the U. S., many of whom are engaged in family and community projects to help their countries.

In short, if the United States takes a narrow view of Africa, as a recipient of "charity," a place to pump oil, and an arena for fighting terrorists, then African hopes being evoked by the Obama candidacy will almost certainly be disappointed. If, however, the United States takes a long view, understanding that its security depends on the human security of Africans, then there are real prospects for a new era of collaboration and good will.

Read more of “U.S.A./Africa: New Policy Prospects?” at AfricaFocus.net
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The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation in Washington DC planned to hold a special Presidential Town Hall meeting on U.S.-Africa policy back in October 2007. Working together with fourteen organizations that advocate constructive U.S. policy toward Africa the Sullivan Foundation sent out questionnaires to all of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Only four (4) candidates, all Democrats, bothered to return completed questionnaires to this influential group of NGO’s and the event had to be cancelled due to a lack of interest and participation.

This prompted the Sullivan Foundation’s President and CEO Howard F. Jeter to write the editorial which appears below. Howard F. Jeter, a career foreign service officer, was a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and Botswana and among other State Department posts served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. This man knows Africa and he knows it well but he wasn’t able to convince many of the former 2008 U.S. presidential candidates that Africa’s needs and wants are also important for America.

Presidential Hopefuls Must Match Bush Legacy
by Howard F. Jeter – October 18, 2007

The 2008 presidential campaign started earlier than ever, with a multitude of debates this past spring and summer before union officials, conservative caucuses, African-American activists at historically black colleges and even users of the web site phenomenon YouTube. But it appears that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Africa continues to be an afterthought among the issues American presidential candidates deal with despite the growing importance of Africa to the well-being and security of the United States.

Africa is a continent that matters increasingly to the United States and the rest of the international community. African countries are reservoirs of the world’s vital natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, gold, titanium, cobalt and the newly-important coltan (used in computers, personal digital assistants, etc.). Meanwhile, transnational diseases such as HIV-AIDS and West Nile Fever now plague the developed world, and for global health reasons, the control of potential epidemics in Africa is increasingly of interest to the United States and all countries throughout the world. African poverty and preventable disasters draw American development and humanitarian assistance and charitable contributions that could be devoted to sustainable development and a rising African standard of living. Due to a lack of transparency and accountability in too many African countries, billions of dollars in national revenue have been diverted from their originally intended purposes. Poor governance in Africa provides havens for international criminal syndicates and terrorism that threatens us all.

In what may come as a surprise to some, President George W. Bush clearly understands the importance of Africa, more than any other contemporary President – Democrat or Republican. President Bush was the first Republican President to visit Africa (although his father visited Africa as Vice President), a dramatic departure from past Republican Administrations. Moreover, he is only the second President of any party to visit Africa in his first term. The Bush Administration has devoted considerable time, energy and resources to resolve some of Africa’s most intractable problems, including internal conflicts in Sudan and Liberia.

According to a study by the Center for Global Development, President Bush has increased the amount of money spent on assistance to Africa more than fourfold, and his annual bilateral aid to Africa is more than twice the level of any previous Administration. The Bush Administration created major new aid programs that benefited African nations, such as the Millennium Challenge Account, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Africa Education Initiative, the President’s Malaria Initiative, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa. President Bush also extended and enhanced the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

The current Administration has created new partnerships with Africans, such as the Trans-Sahel Counterterrorism Initiative to fight a common threat. For the first time in U.S. history, the United States has appointed an Ambassador to the African Union. And also for the first time, all Africa military operations are being consolidated into one unified command so that African issues can be a focus and not an afterthought when the U.S. military must become involved on the continent of Africa in support of African peacekeeping operations, humanitarian relief and security assistance.

A significant portion of our country’s population is directly descended from Africa. However, interest in Africa goes far beyond the African-American community. A growing number of Americans owe their jobs to trade with Africa. Many churches fund humanitarian operations in Africa. American oil companies have discovered Africa as a new frontier in our quest to guarantee our national energy security. Why then does the current crop of U.S. presidential candidates ignore the rising importance of the world’s second largest continent?

The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation leads a coalition of 15 national organizations interested in how the next Administration plans to address major issues involving Africa. A 10-point questionnaire was sent to all Democratic and Republican presidential candidates in June. As of this writing, only Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Governor Bill Richardson and former Senator John Edwards thought it was important enough to respond to that questionnaire. None of the candidates had time to attend a planned October forum on Africa, and only a few of the candidates even bothered to offer a representative for that forum to answer questions about significant issues facing Africa and their importance to the United States. It is surprising and disappointing that other candidates did not respond to at least the questionnaire since most have experience on Africa and presumably know that African issues will demand their attention if they are elected President. Consequently, one wonders why it was considered more important to answer a question from a guy in a snowman suit on YouTube than organizations representing millions of stakeholders and voters on issues of critical concern.

The next Administration will still have to deal with the genocide that occurred in Darfur and the continued suffering of people in that country and its neighbors. Sometime during the next decade, Africa’s supply of oil to America will rival the Middle East as a source of petroleum. Concerns about what role the U.S. military will play in humanitarian and security operations through AFRICOM will largely fall to the next President. Whether African countries become full economic partners or continue as recipients of American and Western largesse will depend on what the next President does. It is important to America that our next President understands the vital role Africa plays in America’s future. Fortunately, our current President does seem to understand, and we applaud him for that.

We need to know the intentions of those who would be President Bush’s successor before we vote and not after they are elected. We need them to tell us more than vague generalities so we can make an informed choice in the polling booth. The days when Africa only mattered to a few activists are over. Africa matters to all Americans, and candidates who do not recognize that fact may lose the support of important constituencies throughout the country.

Ambassador (ret.) Howard F. Jeter is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation. He was a career foreign service officer who served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and Botswana, Special Presidential Envoy for Liberia, State Department Director for West Africa and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
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In regards to what a President Obama or a President McCain would do to improve U.S.-Africa relations is something that would be hard to predict. We can read their statements and listen to their speeches for clues about what they want to do, but in the end we just have to wait and see. A lot can happen between now and January 20th (U.S. Presidential Inauguration) that may influence their plans and ideas and hopes regarding U.S. relations with African countries. I do believe based upon what I have read, seen, and heard from the two U.S. presidential candidates and their policy advisors that U.S. foreign policy toward Africa will continue to improve and mature for another 50 years.

Link to Seven Questions Q&A Nr. 7 (coming soon)
Link to Seven Questions Q&A Nr. 5 (previous)
Link to Seven Questions Q&A Nr. 4
Link to Seven Questions Q&A Nrs. 1,2,3


References, related articles, and additional resources
Coming this week.



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