fyi... > > > > >From: [log in to unmask] > >Reply-To: [log in to unmask] > >To: [log in to unmask] > >Subject: UPDATE: USA - Bush and Africa, the Coming Apathy > >Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 16:27:54 -0500 > > > >ADNA Update: 001215 > >Message from: Africa Policy Information Center > >For contact information see also: > >http://www.africapolicy.org > > > >Dear ADNA members, > > > >Following find the recent article by APIC/AfricaFund/ACOA Director > >Salih Booker previewing the coming administration. Feel free to > >share this with your networks. > > > >Regards, > >Vicki Ferguson > >ADNA Communications Facilitator > > > > > >From: "APIC" <[log in to unmask]> > >Date sent: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 21:36:18 -0500 > >Subject: USA: Bush and Africa, the Coming Apathy > >Send reply to: [log in to unmask] > > > >The Coming Apathy: Africa Policy Under a Bush Administration > > > >By Salih Booker > > > >Salih Booker is the director of both The Africa Fund in New > >York and the Africa Policy Information Center in Washington. > > > >"There's got to be priorities," George W. Bush responded when > >asked about Africa in the second presidential campaign debate. > >Africa did not make his short list: the Middle East, Europe, the Far > >East, and the Americas. A Bush presidency portends a return to the > >blatantly anti-African policies of the Reagan-Bush years, > >characterized by a general disregard for black people and a > >perception of Africa as a social welfare case. Vice President Dick > >Cheney is widely expected to steer the younger Bush on most policy > >matters especially foreign affairs. Cheney's perspective on Africa in > >the 1980s was epitomized by his 1986 vote in favor of keeping > >Nelson Mandela in prison and his consistent opposition to sanctions > >against apartheid South Africa. > > > >In Africa, a Bush White House will likely concentrate on helping its > >oil industry friends reap maximum profits with minimum constraints, > >and it will have absolutely no sense of responsibility for past > >American misadventures, or for global problems like AIDS or > >refugees. But events and activism in Africa plus grassroots pressure > >in the U.S. and internationally could change all of that, as it did > >during the White House tenure of the last Republican Africaphobe. > > > >Ironically, those chosen to set international priorities for Bush will > >likely include two loyal African-Americans, Colin Powell and > >Condolezza Rice, who will probably not deviate from the Bush- > >Cheney exclusion of Africa from the U.S. global agenda. Neither > >Powell nor Rice has shown any particular interest in or special > >knowledge of African issues. Both have repeatedly pledged their > >allegiance to a strong unilateralist view of the use of U.S. power, > >based on the traditional geopolitical concepts of the national interest > >held by the white American elite. Africans are invisible on their > >policy radar screens though all too visible on CNN for the Texas > >governor's taste. > > > >"No one liked to see it on our TV screens," said Bush, when asked > >about genocide in Rwanda in 1994, but Clinton "did the right thing," > >he argued, in deciding not to act to stop the slaughter. Bush ignored > >the fact that the U.S. also failed to support and indeed blocked > >multilateral action by the United Nations. This false dichotomy > >between bilateral intervention and noninvolvement is common among > >U.S. policymakers. But the concessions of Bush's team to > >multilateral options are likely to be particularly scant. > > > >The need for multilateral support for peace and security rather than > >continued expansion of unaccountable bilateral military ties is one of > >the highest priority issues affecting Africa. But hard-line U.S. > >unilateralism will likely make a bad situation worse. When not > >ignoring African security crises, the new administration will likely > >attempt to "delegate" African peacekeeping, using this as a rationale > >for expanding relationships with privileged partners, such as Nigeria, > >while denying resources for strengthening multilateral involvement. > >In fact, we may well see a repeat of this year's abortive effort by > >congressional Republicans to cut funds for UN peacekeeping in > >Africa to zero. > > > >On two other African priority issues, however debt cancellation and > >the HIV/AIDS pandemic public pressure has a chance to cross > >traditional political barriers and make unexpected breakthroughs, as > >did the struggle for sanctions against apartheid in the Reagan era. > >Action on both issues currently receives at least nominal support > >across party lines, as evidenced in Bush's unexpected though > >qualified rhetorical endorsement of debt relief in the debates. Any > >significant action will require spending money and opposing vested > >economic interests, and therefore movement on these issues will > >initially become even more difficult than it has been to date. But > >there are openings. > > > >Republican skepticism of multilateral institutions has even found > >some common ground with critics on the political left, as in the > >Meltzer Commission's criticism of international financial institutions > >and the recent congressional resolution mandating U.S. opposition > >to user fees for primary health and education in poor countries. > >More narrowly, many favor debt cancellation for practical business > >reasons (those with unpayable debts are unlikely to be good > >customers). If debt cancellation makes it high enough on the next > >administration's agenda, there will be room for debate on policy. > > > >Complacency, however, is more likely. "We already did debt relief > >last year," policymakers may disingenuously conclude, "and now > >poor countries should take care of their own problems." The fact that > >the majority of countries affected are African will make it easy for a > >Bush administration to give debt relief lower priority. In the context of > >a Bush presidency and a divided Congress, breaking through the > >systemic American disdain for Africa will not happen unless there > >are real shifts in public perceptions, comparable to those that > >happened in the 1980s regarding apartheid in South Africa. By any > >measure of catastrophic events in human history, the HIV/AIDS > >pandemic should serve as such a wake-up call. > > > >At the end of the year 2000, there are more than 25 million Africans > >living with HIV/AIDS more than 70% of the adults and more than > >80% of the children who are infected worldwide. Almost four million > >Africans were newly infected during the year 2000. Yet almost no > >one in Africa is receiving the expensive treatments now available to > >people living with HIV/AIDS in rich countries. Pharmaceutical > >companies, under pressure, are offering discounts on drugs. But > >they are also continuing their campaign against the production and > >import of generic alternatives. Congress approved the administration > >request for a little more than $300 million in new funds for HIV/AIDS > >worldwide in fiscal year 2001. Yet the scale of the catastrophe has > >still not struck home. Nor has the awareness that AIDS' unequal > >impact both results from and reinforces economic inequalities, > >amounting to a global apartheid. > > > >If we regard HIV/AIDS as just another disease, and those affected > >as excluded from our common humanity, then the odds of making > >Africa a priority in the years ahead are low indeed. If its horrors can > >serve to remind enough of us of our common humanity, then even > >those with the most exclusionary agendas will be forced to respond. > >For the Bush administration, it will be a clear choice between black > >gold and black people. > > > >Africa Policy Information Center, > >110 Maryland Ave. NE, #509, Washington, DC 20002. > >Phone: 202-546-7961. Fax: 202-546-1545. > >E-mail: [log in to unmask] > > > >*** > > > >This message from APIC/AfricaFund/ACOA is distributed through > >the Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA). > >Vicki Lynn Ferguson > >Advocacy Network for Africa > >Communications Facilitator > >c/o Africa Policy Information Center > >110 Maryland Ave, NE #509 > >Washington, DC 20002 > >Ph: 202-546-7961 > >Fax: 202-546-1545 > >E-mail: [log in to unmask] > >Web: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------