Ambassador Herman J. “Hank” Cohen decided early in his 38-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service to specialize in African affairs. He made that decision in the late 1950s when the majority of the African nations were transitioning from European colonial rule to sovereign independence. His service in five U.S....
Herman Cohen draws on both the documentary record and his years of on-the-ground experience to provide a uniquely comprehensive survey and interpretation of nearly eight decades of US policy toward Africa. Tracing how this policy has evolved across successive administrations since 1942 (beginning with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term...
Since Xi Jinping’s accession to power in 2012, nearly every aspect of China’s relations with Africa has grown dramatically. Beijing has increased the share of resources it devotes to African countries, expanding military cooperation, technological investment, and educational and cultural programs as well as extending its political influence.
This book...
In the Aftermath of Genocide: The U.S. Role in Rwanda deepens understanding of the Rwandan genocide and the Congolese war that engulfed Central Africa in the 1990s and America’s policy response to the crises. Gribbin draws on his thirty years of diplomatic experience in the region to analyze U.S. perceptions...
By 1990, as the state-controlled Algerian economy careened toward the brink of bankruptcy, its government began to turn away from one-party rule and toward democracy. But after the government canceled an election that Islamist parties were poised to win, the ensuing Islamist insurgency killed as many as 100,000 and threatened...
As the initial US observer, David Rawson participated in the 1993 Rwandan peace talks at Arusha, Tanzania. Later, he served as US ambassador to Rwanda during the last months of the doomed effort to make them hold. Despite the intervention of concerned states in establishing a peace process and the...