13 September 2008
(Page 3 of 3)
What would prevent a President Obama from being helpful to Africa then were the two core functions of the American presidency: to "develop and implement a foreign policy to enhance US interests and pursue a domestic policy that will bring economic prosperity to the nation." It was in the service of those two functions that America's role in the world had been historically shaped, and continued to be, limiting the scope of what an individual president could do ... "Why am I pessimistic about the prospects of an Obama presidency for Africa?" asked Dr. Mutua. The answer, he offered, lay in Africa's "structurally racist and exploitative relationship with Africa. In slavery - the brutal capture, transportation, sale and exploitation of Africans to build America - and the support by the United States of Cold War despots in Africa, lies the destructive relationship between black people and America."
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[This points to the] important distinction that has to be made between the president as an individual and the president as an institution. As an individual, we only have to hark back to Obama's autobiography, Dreams From My Father. ... the personal importance of Africa to Barack Obama is not only evident in the book, it is profound to Obama's own identity. ... Obama takes 450 pages to offer an intimate look into his life, from early days in Hawaii, Indonesia, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, to an epochal homecoming in Kenya. The amount of detail Obama dedicates to his life in the United States and Indonesia, where he lived all his life hitherto, contrasts sharply with the one third of the book that he devotes to Kenya, where he only spent three months. ...
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However the reasons for caution in imagining what an Obama presidency may do for Africa and the Third World are equally sobering. By the time we get to the US senate and to his next book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006), Africa has pretty much disappeared from Obama's narrative, replaced by distant references that characterize much of mainstream Western attitudes about Africa. Missing even from the Index, Africa is mentioned only perfunctorily, no longer as the place Obama spent a lifetime yearning for, but rather as the known poster child for the world's worst maladies and disorder. "There are times when considering the plight of Africa - the millions racked by AIDS, the constant droughts and famines, the dictatorships, the pervasive corruption, the brutality of twelve-year-old guerillas who know nothing but war wielding machetes or AK-47s -I find myself plunged into cynicism and despair" (p. 319). But Obama is also aware of the progress Africa has made, citing Uganda's success with the AIDS pandemic, and the end of civil war in countries like Mozambique.
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Obama is also able to go beyond the average politician in his candidness about the ravages brought on Indonesia and other parts of the world by the ideological juggernaut of US foreign policy.
... Obama's candor continues throughout the chapter, noting that "our record is mixed - not just in Indonesia but across the world" (p. 280). He calls American foreign policy "a jumble of warring impulses," at times farsighted and serving the mutual interests of both the United States and other nations, and at other times making "for a more dangerous world" ...
In the final analysis, the significance of an Obama presidency for Pan-Africa and the Third World will lie less in what Barack Obama may or may not be able to do for people of African descent than in the symbolic message that his ascendancy to the most powerful office in the world will do in changing black people's perceptions of who they are in the world, and how others view them. That has been the underlying, implicit cause of the renewed hope in what has been said by the Kenyans, the Malawians, the South Africans, the Nigerians, Caribbean commentators, and in fact every one else around the world who has joined in the celebration. ....
Party Platforms
Both party platforms speak briefly and in general terms about Africa.
Republican Party Platform
Advancing Hope and Prosperity in Africa
The great promise of Africa has been dimmed by disease, hunger, and violence. Republicans have faced up to each of those challenges because, in addition to humanitarian concerns, the U.S. has important security interests in the stability and progress of African nations. The devastating toll of HIV/AIDS threatens to destabilize entire societies through large numbers of orphaned youths. In response, the U.S. has become the unrivaled leader in fighting the diseases that are the scourge of much of the continent. Republican-sponsored legislation has brought jobs and investment to sub-Saharan Africa. To continue that progress, we advocate continued expansion of trade with African nations.
Genocide must end. The horrendous suffering of the people in the Darfur region of Sudan, as well as less publicized human tragedies elsewhere, calls for a far more energetic and determined response from Africa's elected leaders. The United States stands ready to assist them with materiel, transportation, and humanitarian supplies. We will continue America's diplomatic efforts to secure a comprehensive and humane settlement for the people of the southern and western Sudan.
The promise of democracy and freedom in Africa is diminished by the government of Zimbabwe, which has seized lands without compensation, debased the currency, murdered and tortured its people, and so intimidated voters that free and fair elections are impossible. We support sanctions against this government, free elections, and the restoration of civil government in Zimbabwe.
See http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/NationalSecurity.htm for these paragraphs in context.
Democratic Party Platform
Support Africa's Democratic Development
U.S. engagement with Africa should reflect its vital significance to the U.S. as well as its emerging role in the global economy. We recognize Africa's promise as a trade and investment partner and the importance of policies that can contribute to sustainable economic growth, job creation, and poverty alleviation. We are committed to bringing the full weight of American leadership to bear in unlocking the spirit of entrepreneurship and economic independence that is sweeping across markets of Africa.
We believe that sustainable economic growth and development will mitigate and even help to reverse such chronic and debilitating challenges as poverty, hunger, conflict, and HIV/AIDS. We are committed to bringing the full weight of American leadership to bear to work in partnership with Africa to confront these crises.
We will work with the United Nations and Africa's regional organizations to prevent and resolve conflict and to build the capacity of Africa's weak and failing states. We must respond effectively when there is a humanitarian crisis particularly at this moment in Sudan where genocide persists in Darfur and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is threatened.
Many African countries have embraced democratization and economic liberalization. We will help strengthen Africa's democratic development and respect for human rights, while encouraging political and economic reforms that result in improved transparency and accountability. We will defend democracy and stand up for rule of law when it is under assault, such as in Zimbabwe.
For this statement in context see
http://www.democrats.org/a/party/platform.html
Additional Sources on Candidates' Positions on Africa
Council on Foreign Relations
The Candidates on U.S. Policy toward Africa
August 24, 2008
http://www.cfr.org/publication/14749/#2
Democratic Candidates Responses to Questionnaire on Africa
Sullivan Foundation Town Hall Meeting
October 2007
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