From George W. Bush to Donald J. Trump: Africa in the US foreign policy, 2001-2020

Abstract

In the final years of the Clinton administration (1994-2001) and, most notably, during the War on Terror (GcT), United States of America (USA) and Africa relations were intensified. As it symbolizes a certain counterpoint to the historical distance, at least in international relations, between USA and African countries, this proximity leads us to the following question: did the presence of the United States represent, or not, a break with the marginal condition of the African continent in Washington's interests? Based on this issue, the article proposes to understand the Africa in the foreign policy of the United States between 2001 and 2020, and to defend the hypothesis that there was no such break. Firstly, during the Bush (2001-2009) and Obama (2009-2017) administrations, the predominance of security-oriented initiatives indicated the continuity of the USA in including Africa to its systemic interests, and does not necessarily reflect the changing status of this continent in U.S. foreign policy. Second, because disinterest in Africa was prevalent throughout the Trump administration (2017-2021). In methodological terms, the article will be developed from a bibliographic review, composed of books, articles, academic journals, official documents, reports, among other sources considered relevant to the theme.

Keywords

• africa
• foreign policy
• the united states of america
• estados unidos
• política externa