• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Analysis: In Africa, Aid or Air Strikes?

Council on Foreign Relations

January 11, 2007
Prepared by: Stephanie Hanson

Celebrities including Bono, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, and Oprah Winfrey all made headlines this year for their philanthropic efforts in Africa. Yet the accomplishments of a far more powerful figure—President Bush—seem to have largely escaped the media’s attention. The president has tripled development and humanitarian aid to Africa to more than $4 billion (WashPost) since taking office. This increase in aid includes a $15-billion, five-year global health initiative, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and a $1.2-billion malaria initiative. While some criticize the president for not doing more to halt the genocide in Darfur, he played a role in ending Liberia’s civil war and proved instrumental in bringing about a peace deal in southern Sudan in 2005.

U.S. policy in Africa seeks to promote democracy, expand economic opportunity, fight disease, and end war on the continent, said Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer in a May speech. Unlike U.S. policy in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Bush administration’s approach toward Africa has been dominated by combating poverty and ending humanitarian crises. But this week’s air strikes in Somalia, targeting senior al-Qaeda members, may signal a U.S. policy shift that favors counterterror initiatives and military involvement over aid. This perception—whether true or not—has already damaged U.S. standing in Somalia, where news of the attacks set off fresh waves of anti-American sentiment in Mogadishu.

Though Africa has never been a priority for the Pentagon, that looks set to change. At the urging of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush is expected to announce the creation of a new African Command (CSMonitor) early this year.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2007 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.