Originally Published at L’Initiative Globale pour la Paix et la Sécurité en Afrique.
During the December 13-15 US-Africa Leaders Summit, the Biden Administration will likely take the opportunity to gauge the depth and strength of its relations with African states’ leaders and to reassert the four pillars of its recently released U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa. But recent trends ― from the frustration about the United States’ initially limited efforts to help African countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to the mixed response across the continent to the United States’ call to rally a coalition against Russia in its war in Ukraine ― indicate that US policies towards the continent have had limited success. Moreover, far from being convincing, the new strategy highlights the contradictions between the administration’s rhetoric and its actions, as well as its apparent inability to move beyond past practices. Within this context, the Biden administration faces challenging questions, including: What role can the United States undertake amidst a growing number of foreign partners in the region? What is the future for its security strategy? And how will it implement commitments such as supporting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?
US – Africa Leaders Summit: What can Washington learn from the Dakar Forum?
By Aude Darnal
Grand Strategy
Originally Published at L’Initiative Globale pour la Paix et la Sécurité en Afrique.
During the December 13-15 US-Africa Leaders Summit, the Biden Administration will likely take the opportunity to gauge the depth and strength of its relations with African states’ leaders and to reassert the four pillars of its recently released U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa. But recent trends ― from the frustration about the United States’ initially limited efforts to help African countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to the mixed response across the continent to the United States’ call to rally a coalition against Russia in its war in Ukraine ― indicate that US policies towards the continent have had limited success. Moreover, far from being convincing, the new strategy highlights the contradictions between the administration’s rhetoric and its actions, as well as its apparent inability to move beyond past practices. Within this context, the Biden administration faces challenging questions, including: What role can the United States undertake amidst a growing number of foreign partners in the region? What is the future for its security strategy? And how will it implement commitments such as supporting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?
Read the full article at L’Initiative Globale pour la Paix et la Sécurité en Afrique.
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