The homecoming king

By Sun Chenghao
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Beijing Review, August 4, 2015
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Pivot to Africa?

It is instructive to place the trip against the wider backdrop of history. During the Cold War, U.S.-Africa relations were largely overshadowed by the bipolar system. After the Black Hawk incident in Somalia and the genocide in Rwanda, the U.S. strategy toward Africa started to change toward the end of Bill Clinton's administration. President Clinton took the final lead in developing the AGOA and it was signed by him into law in May 2000. President George W. Bush then carried the torch, initiating the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) to reward "good-governed" countries judged upon the criteria including openness, free markets, democracy and political freedom. From 2002 to 2008, according to Bush's memoir, the MCA invested $6.7 billion of seed money in 35 partner countries. Bush also established a President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which was dedicated to caring for vulnerable people.

However, in Obama's first term, there was little if any discernible African strategy at all, save for empty promises. He merely visited the continent with a whistle-stop stay in Ghana lasting less than 24 hours. He basically maintained the same funding level for global health as his predecessor Bush, yet owing to his more diversified programs, the amount of funding dedicated to PEPFAR and combating AIDS has actually been reduced. According to South African archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2010, "Under the Bush administration, about 400,000 more African patients received treatment every year. Obama would reduce the number of new patients receiving treatment to 320,000."

To clarify things, the White House released its U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, a set of guidelines setting forth four strategic objectives to be achieved by the end of Obama's tenure, namely strengthening democratic institutions, spurring economic growth, trade, and investment, advancing peace and security, and promoting opportunity and development. Over 2013 and 2014, Obama's whirlwind diplomacy toward Africa included his visit to the three aforementioned countries and the first U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit.

Some scholars argue that in his second term Obama is "pivoting to Africa." Such rhetoric, however, is hard to swallow. On the economic front, despite its emphasis on promoting trade and investment in Africa, the United States has failed to sign a single new bilateral investment treaty or free trade agreement with any African country. The only highlight may be Obama's Power Africa Initiative, which pledges an investment of $7 billion and involves working with African governments, the private sector, and other partners to double electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. However, only a tiny portion of the budget has been allocated toward off-grid energy solutions, which means off-grid projects and renewable energy solutions are not the priority of the initiative as originally claimed. Moreover, the U.S. Export-Import Bank's charter expired on June 30 and new loans could not be approved, greatly hampering American companies in their efforts to get financing for potential power projects in Africa.

On the security front, the United States has sped up its limited cooperation on anti-terrorism with African countries. Obama understands the risks to U.S. army personnel and his own political standing if the United States were to deeply involve itself in the battle against terrorism. To avoid direct intervention, the United States has supported regional and sub-regional organizations in spearheading military action. From 2005 to August 2014, through the Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program, the United States trained more than 248,000 peacekeepers from 25 partner countries across the continent.

In fact, Africa has never been deemed a priority in U.S. strategic consideration and the superpower's real pivot is toward the Asia-Pacific, a point clearly articulated by many senior U.S. officials. That's part of the reason why the United States depends heavily on its allies to intervene in the continent's internal conflicts. In 2011, the United States adopted the so-called "lead-from-behind" tactic, offering intelligence, logistical support, and search and rescue assistance to NATO's military actions in Libya in the absence of boots on the ground. In August 2014, Obama authorized $10 million in military aid to help France fight terrorists in the Sahel region.

Obama's visits to Kenya and Ethiopia represent symbolic gestures rather than strategic maneuvers. Yes, he intends to solidify his diplomatic legacy because the clock is ticking on his presidential tenure and Africa is a nice addition to his recent list of wins. Owing to limited resources and the relative insignificance of Africa in the grand scheme of U.S. foreign policy, however, he has neither the desire not the inclination to conceive a clear, consistent and inheritable strategy that can be followed by his successors in order to make a difference to the African continent in the decades ahead.

The author is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of American Studies under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

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