Free At Last?: U.S. Policy Toward Africa and the End of the Cold War

With the end of the Cold War, the United States has an unprecedented opportunity to create a new policy toward Africa freed from the constraints of East-West geopolitics.

In Free at Last?, Michael Claugh provides a comprehensive overview of U.S.-Africa relations from World War II to the present: he surveys past American initiatives to illustrate how U.S. policy, intent on containing Soviet expansion, benefited African rulers at the expense of African civil society. He also discusses the declining importance of U.S. strategic and economic interests in Africa and how this is counterbalanced by the growing interest of American constituencies focused on such issues as humanitarian relief, human rights, and the environment.

Clough proposes abandoning traditional, government-to- government diplomatic approaches in favor of a radical new strategy modeled on the successes achieved in combating famine in Ethiopia and ending apartheid in South Africa. Offering an unconventional look at U.S. policy, Free at Last? is absorbing and essential reading for anyone concerned with both U.S.- Africa relations and the future of U.S. policy toward the Third World.