U.S. -- African Leaders' Summit of 2014: Imperatives for a New Partnership

Abstract

August 2014 was the first time in U.S -- Africa political and economic relations where as many as 50 African heads of state and governments arrived in Washington at the invitation of the U.S President, Barak Obama, for a three-day summit to kick off a "new era of cooperation." The novelty of this event does not lie in the fact that for the first time the President of the U.S is a black man whose father happened to be from Africa, but by an interplay of security, health, and economic circumstances whose trajectories -- if left unchecked -- could inflict considerable hurt to not only the African continent, but also to the Western world which is led by the United States.

This paper will examine the multi-frontal security flare-ups in Africa which are all borne out of religious, ethnic, political, and economic cleavages of past and present iterations that threaten to rupture that vital link of today’s globalized maze of capitalism. The paper will further explore both the indirect and direct links these events could have on America’s national security concerns and why U.S cooperation with Africa in these areas should not only be mutually beneficial, but also strategically compelling.

The other "new era" agenda to be examined is Obama’s plan to mobilize American private capital to launch an aggressive U.S trade and investment in Africa. While "Trade, But Not Aid" has been Africa’s unheeded message to the West for decades now, the paper seeks to assess America’s sudden about-face on serious economic engagement with Africa. Is this meant to counter China’s massive investments in African infrastructure and strategic natural resources, or to offer U.S economic engagement as a preferable one to China’s?