John Campbell

Africa in Transition

Campbell tracks political and security developments across sub-Saharan Africa.

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Showing posts for "Obama"

An African Agenda for President Obama

by John Campbell
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) jokes with patients and staff of the Heal Africa clinic in Goma August 11, 2009. (Roberto Schmidt/Courtesy Reuters) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) jokes with patients and staff of the Heal Africa clinic in Goma August 11, 2009. (Roberto Schmidt/Courtesy Reuters)

There is criticism in Africa and in the United States that, given Africa’s growing strategic, political, and economic importance, President Obama paid insufficient attention to it during his first term. In fact, the Obama administration has many program initiatives in Africa; and cabinet officers, led by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, regularly visited the continent. During her four year tenure as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton visited Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Benin, Somalia, South Africa, Kenya, and Malawi, among others. Read more »

Kenyan Election in the Hands of the Supreme Court

by John Campbell
President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta greets his supporters in the company of his wife Margaret, soon after attending a news conference in Nairobi March 9, 2013. (Siegfried Modola/Courtesy Reuters) President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta greets his supporters in the company of his wife Margaret, soon after attending a news conference in Nairobi March 9, 2013. (Siegfried Modola/Courtesy Reuters)

More than a week after elections under Kenya’s new constitution, the prospects for peace and security remain challenging.

The country appears calm in the aftermath of the election commission’s announcement that Uhuru Kenyatta won a razor-thin victory over Raila Odinga. Kenyatta has avoided a runoff with 50.07 percent of the votes. Read more »

Drones in Niger: A Fateful Decision

by John Campbell
A U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to the California Air National Guard's 163rd Reconnaissance Wing flies near the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California in this January 7, 2012. (U.S. Air Force/Courtesy Reuters) A U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to the California Air National Guard's 163rd Reconnaissance Wing flies near the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California in this January 7, 2012. (U.S. Air Force/Courtesy Reuters)

President Obama announced in a letter to Congress that he deployed “approximately one hundred” U.S. military troops to Niamey, Niger to establish a drone base to survey the Sahel and the Sahara. This base, which could eventually host up to three hundred U.S. troops, contradicts earlier administration assurances that there would be no U.S. boots on the ground. There has been limited U.S. surveillance of the region before, using light aircraft. However, a drone base dramatically ups the visibility–and the ante. Read more »

President Obama and Sub-Saharan Africa: What’s Missing

by Guest Blogger for John Campbell
A man with a flag stuck to his forehead waits to catch a glimpse of U.S. President Barack Obama in Accra 11/07/2009. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Courtesy Reuters) A man with a flag stuck to his forehead waits to catch a glimpse of U.S. President Barack Obama in Accra 11/07/2009. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Courtesy Reuters)

Richard Joseph is the John Evans Professor of International History and Politics at Northwestern University and a Senior Fellow with the Program on Global Economy and  Development of The Brookings Institution.  He has been deeply engaged with American policy toward Africa for a generation.  In his guest post below, Dr. Joseph analyzes the Obama administration’s June 2012 policy paper on Africa and he provides specific policy recommendations for the President’s second term. Read more »

The United States and South Africa: An Opportunity for Closer Relations

by John Campbell
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma attend a photo call after a brief meeting in Durban, August 8, 2009. (Rogan Ward/Courtesy Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma attend a photo call after a brief meeting in Durban, August 8, 2009. (Rogan Ward/Courtesy Reuters)

Notwithstanding official rhetoric to the contrary, the bilateral relationship between South Africa and the United States is not as close as it ought to be.  The partnership has been thin on African regional challenges and the dialogue often superficial on issues ranging from reform of the United Nations Security Council to the leadership of international financial institutions or nuclear non-proliferation.  South African specialists in international affairs frequently see the United States as favoring violence over negotiation (as in the case of Libya) or as riding roughshod over the sovereignty of other nations (citing American-driven UN sanctions against Iran.) Americans, in turn, have seen South Africa as failing to assume a leadership role in Africa and too often inappropriately ascribing Western involvement in Africa merely to “neocolonialism.” Read more »

President Obama and Africa

by John Campbell
A Sudanese child from the south, wearing a t-shirt with the picture of U.S. President Barack Obama, stands near a shelter at Mandela camp, in the outskirts of Khartoum, July 4, 2011. (Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Courtesy Reuters) A Sudanese child from the south, wearing a t-shirt with the picture of U.S. President Barack Obama, stands near a shelter at Mandela camp, in the outskirts of Khartoum, July 4, 2011. (Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Courtesy Reuters)

Journalist John Norris writing in Foreign Policy observes that Africans and and many Africa experts somehow expected that, because of his Kenyan father, President Obama’s approach to Africa would be transformative. In a thoughtful article, he asks why the Obama administration’s Africa policy has not been so different from that of Presidents Bush and Clinton. Read more »