Trump Administration’s New Africa Strategy

The author analyses political, economic and military aspects of the new US Africa strategy, approved by president D.Trump on December 12 2018 and made public next day by his National Security advisor John Bolton. According to the official version, the release of the strategy was prompted by the conclusion that the African policy which had been pursued, proved to be inefficient. Billions and billions of dollars invested by US in Africa have not led to stable governance and economic viability, neither have they stopped terrorism, or prevented other powers, such as Chine and Russia, to increase their own influence on the continent. This situation runs counter the US interest, threatens its national security.

The new strategy is called upon to amend the current state of affairs in correspondence with Trump’s “central campaign promise to put the interests of American people first, both at home and abroad”. The first “core US interest” on the continent is to advance trade and commercial ties with nations across the region. As far as US economic assistance is concerned it will no longer be provided indiscriminately across the entire continent. The funding will be targeted toward key countries, the economic effort will focus on African governments which act as US strategic partners. And there will be established bilateral mechanisms to maintain maximum American control over every American dollar spent.

The second “core interest” is countering the threat from radical Islamic terrorism and violent conflicts. The US will assist key African governments in building the capacity of their armed forces and security institutions. Washington wants to see more cooperative regional security organizations emerge around the world.

The new Strategy is a component of the US course for global hegemony implemented under Trump’s slogan “America First”.

Keywords

USA, Africa, China, Russia, new strategy, development assistance, terrorism, competition, effectiveness

Received

14.05.2019

Publication date

22.05.2019

Number of characters

28989

Cite

GOST	Urnov A. Trump Administration’s New Africa Strategy // Asia and Africa Today – 2019. – Issue 5 C. 6-13 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://asaf-today.ru/S032150750004743-9-1 (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032150750004743-9
MLA	Urnov, Andrey "Trump Administration’s New Africa Strategy." Asia and Africa Today 5 (2019):6-13. DOI: 10.31857/S032150750004743-9
APA	Urnov A. (2019). Trump Administration’s New Africa Strategy. Asia and Africa Today (5), pp.6-13 DOI: 10.31857/S032150750004743-9

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