The United States in Africa: Bush Policy and Beyond

This book examines the George W. Bush administration’s claim to have made major new contributions to health, development, democracy and peace in Sub-Saharan Africa. Though aid has increased and a major AIDS initiative launched, Copson argues that foreign aid is losing its focus on development as political priorities come to the fore; U.S. barriers to African exports remain substantial; and the AIDS program is unilateral and ideologically controversial. Increasingly military approaches to fighting the ＂Global War on Terror＂ in Africa and securing energy imports carries serious risks for the region. Copson concludes by assessing the prospects of a more equitable policy emerging in future administrations.

Raymond W. Copson is an independent scholar specializing in African affairs and U.S. relations with Africa. He teaches at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and is editor of the Online Africa Policy Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Until 2005, he worked at the Congressional Research Service of the US Library of Congress. He has previously lectured in international relations at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.