United States Foreign Policy toward Africa
Incrementalism, Crisis and Change

The first comprehensive theoretical analysis of US foreign policy toward Africa in the postwar era.

Peter J. Schraeder (Author)

9780521466776, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 January 1994

376 pages, 4 maps 6 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.545 kg

"...a welcome addition to the literature....the book is based on solid research (including almost 100 interviews), and the case studies are well written and informative. After reading this book, one is left with an understanding of how negatively the Cold War affected Africa, and how the superpowers used Africa as an arena for settling global conflicts....Schraeder makes an important contribution by integrating the analysis of African international relations into a broader social scientific framework....The book is also a good place to start for readers who seek an overview of U.S. relations with Africa. Both specialists and generalists will find this a useful study." David N. Gibbs, Journal of Politics

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

1. An introduction to US foreign policy toward Africa
2. Pattern and process in US foreign policy toward Africa
3. US foreign policy toward Zaire
4. US foreign policy toward Ethiopia and Somalia
5. US foreign policy toward South Africa
6. US Africa policies in the post-Cold War era.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]