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Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 10:33:02 EST
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Subject: [AfricaMatters] Bush era heralds marginalisation for Africa

December 18, 2000
Bush era heralds marginalisation for Africa

By SIMON DENYER

Nairobi (Reuters) - The arrival of George W Bush at the White House is likely
to leave Africa marginalised even further, as he puts together an
administration with little interest in the continent, analysts said on
Monday.

Bush is expected to rely heavily on his vice-president, Dick Cheney, for
advice on foreign policy issues - many Africans remember Cheney as a man who
consistently opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa, and who voted
in Congress in 1986 against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson
Mandela.

Two African-Americans are set for key roles in the new administration, yet
neither prospective secretary of state Colin Powell nor Condoleezza Rice,
nominated as Bush's national security adviser, is expected to champion
African issues.

"(They) will probably not deviate from the Bush-Cheney exclusion of Africa
from the global agenda," said Salih Booker, director of the Africa Policy
Information Center in Washington. "Neither Powell nor Rice has shown any
particular interest in or special knowledge of African issues."

No troops, and less money?

One of the last acts of George Bush's presidency in 1992 was to send American
troops into Somalia. Neither his son - nor Colin Powell, who was then
chairman of the joint chiefs of staff - will have forgotten the nightmare of
"Operation Restore Hope" and deaths of more than 20 American soldiers.

Partly as a result, no one expects Americans to send peacekeeping troops to
Africa these days. Instead, Bush and the cautious Powell are likely to favour
the idea of African peacekeepers to resolve African wars.

"If the mindset of the new administration is that conflict in Africa is
something that is chronic . . . We will see a lot less interest," said John
Githongo, Kenyan newspaper columnist and a director of corruption watchdog
Transparency International.

"The Republicans are generally more hostile to the UN and intervention in
foreign conflicts, particularly African conflicts, so the purse strings
should become tighter for this kind of thing," he added.

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Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.

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