Abstract
Examines the political and economic situation on the ground in Africa, as well as the United States’ role in the region.
Description
Despite its rich natural resources, Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. In terms of economic wealth and human capital Africa has persistently lagged far behind other continents, a victim first of colonial exploitation from abroad and later of corruption and mismanagement from within. Many of Africa’s poverty-stricken nations are also hosts to violent conflicts, such as the bloody civil wars that raged in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In spite of Africa’s multitude of problems, U.S. involvement on the continent has been irregular at best, and neglectful at worst. Although Congress passed the African Growth and Opportunity Act in 2000, as the twentieth century drew to a close American foreign aid and diplomatic representation on the continent remained at substantially reduced levels. Promising developments were nonetheless underway in countries such as Nigeria, where recent elections marked a return to democracy from military rule, and in South Africa, where the government was completing a smooth transition to post-apartheid, multiracial majority rule. What is going on in Africa today, and what are its prospects for the future? What role should the United States play in assisting the world’s most impoverished and war-torn region? To discuss these questions, host Peter Krogh sits down with Dr. Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President Clinton and future Ambassador to the United Nations, and Marina Ottaway, Africa Scholar and Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
