Keller.pdf - Meeting the Challenges of Strategic and Human...

Meeting the Challenges of Strategic and
Human Security Interests in US – Africa
Relations, or the Orphaning of ‘ Soft Power ’ ?
Edmond J. Keller
In the context of a changed global environment since the end of the cold war, Africa has
assumed renewed importance in the foreign policy calculations of the USA. Moreover,
the security interests of the USA and African states could be seen as converging. One of
the major goals of US foreign policy is combating international terrorism, while Africa
as a whole is vulnerable as a breeding ground and incubation site for international ter-
rorists. Indeed, international terrorism thrives amidst poverty and underdevelopment,
and nowhere is this more the case than in present-day Africa. What this represents for
the continent is both a strategic and a human security challenge; and, given the
current circumstances, it would seem reasonable to suggest that the USA and Africa
should enter into wider partnerships to overcome the vulnerabilities African countries
face in coping with these challenges, both strategic and human security. Unless the
USA makes a concerted effort to commit substantial material, technical, and human
resources in its relations with Africa, the root causes of domestic con fl ict and inter-
national terrorism in the African region and in the world will continue to be major
impediments to political and economic development and democracy, and thus to the
Africa Review 4, 1, 2013: 1 – 16
African Studies Association of India , New Delhi
Edmond J. Keller is a distinguished Professor of Political Science and Chair, Department of Political
Science, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Director of the UCLA Globalisation Research
Center-Africa, and former Director of the James S Coleman African Studies Center at UCLA. He special-
ises in comparative politics with an emphasis on Africa, and his research focuses on political transitions,
cultural pluralism, and nationalism, and con fl ict and con fl ict management in Africa.

achievement of USA ’ s vital strategic security interests and the strategic and human
security of African nations.
Simultaneously with the ending of the cold war — or because of its ending — aca-
demics and foreign policy advisers in the USA began to push hard for the government to
emphasise and develop its capacity for ‘ soft power ’ (Nye, 1990, 1994). This was sup-
posed to entail the USA recognising that the world has changed — and even though
its own interests are perceived to be fi rst and foremost strategic, these interests cannot
be achieved by force alone. No longer was the country locked in an ideological battle
with the Soviet Union and Communist China (the People ’ s Republic of China
(PRC)). To the extent that there was still global competition, the locus of this relation-
ship had shifted to the economic and socio-political realms. In order to win new friends
and regain the support and admiration of former allies, it was argued that the USA was
going to have to listen more carefully than it had become accustomed to.