US in Africa

On the great continent of Africa, conflicts are raging in many nations while humanitarian crises like food security, poverty and disease accelerate. The U.S. professes a firm commitment to democracy in Africa but tends to look the other way on human rights issues depending on military, economic and political alliances. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will need to address complex issues in Africa including the conflicts in Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe.

Since 2001, the Global War on Terror has changed U.S. foreign policy in Africa, leading to a 1,000% increase in U.S. military spending there. Without consulting African leaders, last October President Bush announced the creation of AFRICOM, the U.S. military's central command in Africa. AFRICOM's creation moved previous humanitarian work under the State Department's jurisdiction to the Department of Defense, what many Africans consider a militarization of U.S. aid to Africa.

The free market approach to Africa has not been successful and is made worse by the global economic crisis and rise in food costs. 87% of sub-Saharan Africans are making less than $2/day. Debt relief and reforming U.S. trade with Africa to be "fair" instead of "free" could go a long way to help stabilize African nations. U.S. aid is sorely needed to help relieve hunger and end violence in Africa, but the U.S. must consider the human rights abuses of the governments receiving U.S. assistance and allegiance to be credible in Africans' eyes.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): The Second Congo War, also called Africa's World War, has killed 2.7 million people since 2004, although it officially ended in June of 2003. The conflict is the world's deadliest since World War II with an estimated 5.4 million people killed as of the end of 2008. The status of women is the DRC is volatile at best, with rape used as a weapon of war and many women enslaved by soldiers.

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's unemployment rate has hit 90 percent and inflation is at 230 million percent, making its currency virtually worthless. A cholera epidemic has killed about 3,500 people and has infected about 73,000. Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe, refuses to cede leadership to Morgan Tsvangirai, the winner of a democratic election last March. Instead, the two have struck a power-sharing deal with Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and Mugabe remaining as President. Many are skeptical of Tsvangirai's plans to address rampant corruption and increase the security of the Zimbabwean people while Mugabe is still in the mix.

Somalia: Beyond the pirates we hear about in the news, there are many complexities in Somalia that President Obama will need to consider. Although originally touted as the African success story for the Global War on Terror, U.S. involvement in Somalia has not only cast doubt on the U.S.'s intentions but also hurt our standing on the continent. An estimated 3.25 million Somalis are now in dire need of food aid.

Sudan: The crisis in Darfur has brought international attention and the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on 10 counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes and possibly genocide. Still the killings continue. Sudan has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror since 1993.

How can the U.S. reform its policy toward Africa to help end conflict and promote stability? Do U.S. actions and aid fuel conflict in Africa? Can the African Union accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of Africa? What role can the African Union play in building democratic institutions, monitoring human rights abuses and creating peace and stability in Africa? How can U.S. aid best be administered?

Listen to our related A World of Possibilities program entitled Orphans of Conflict: The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons.

Learn more about The Enough Project at EnoughProject.org.