Let’s hope that Bush and Powell’s visit to Africa will bring about closer media attention to the problems facing the continent and also real action on the part of the administration and Congress to addressing these problems. There are several reasons to be cynical about it. First, as has generally been discussed, the administration tends to promise more in anti-AIDS funding than even it requests in its budget, not to mention will actually be granted from a cash-strapped legislature. Second, the report in the Economist that Powell has been “putting pressure on the country’s dictatorial president, Robert Mugabe, to resign, by promising that massive American aid would be sent to the impoverished country as soon as he is gone” suggests that the administration is eager to expand its use of foreign policy bribes that it doesn’t have the long-term ability to sustain in its budget. What about all of the payments to our supporters in the Iraq war? What kind of incentive system does this set up in general? Third, the US still seems to be picking its countries out of a combination from direct US interest (i.e. oil and trade) and the “good example” school of photo-op appearance. Needless to say, the Democratic Congo is not on the agenda for this trip.
Still, the visit itself is encouraging. For a party and a president who have generally not been engaged in African affairs, the new attention itself is news. And so far, Bush has struck the right tone, avoiding his normal condescension to third world countries (”they are a peace and freedom loving people…”) and speaking in clear terms how Africa’s fate matters to the US. Let’s hope that action backs up the words.
NOTE: Much more media attention has been paid to Africa since Bush’s speech last Thursday. Still, analysis seems to be thin - there’s a since that there’s no reason for any fighting other than the craziness of dictators. However, in addition to the Economist article cited above, the BBC does have a short but useful overview of the West African conflicts.
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