The ‘ New’ USAfrica Strategy: More about ChinaRussia, than Africa

Whether one sees the recently launched US Africa Strategy as old wine in new bottles or new wine in old bottles, the difference is the same.

There is absolutely nothing new there, neither the message nor the messenger. President Joe Biden has been part of the Washington establishment for as long as one can remember. He has been there, done that. For Secretary of State, Antony Blinken to claim that the Strategy “represents a new approach,” is disingenuous to say the least. Two main problems still persist. One being strategic outlook and the other being hegemony.

One of the major undoing of US strategic outlook and psychographic culture is dichotomy. For American strategic planners, the world is nothing more than binaries. The world is black and white, and it cannot be otherwise.

There are no shades. There is good and evil, there is no indifference. Therefore, they read the strategic landscape as nothing more than an ‘ eternal battle’ between ‘ the free world’ led by the US and ‘ authoritarian regimes’ coalescing with China.

And the world as we know it, this is not only overly simplistic, it is brutally myopic. But unfortunately, that is the US’ lens, hence former President Bush’s infamous speech, “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”

Twenty years down the lane, the Americans were the ones fleeing the Afghanistan battle space. The lesson, things are not always black and white, at times they are grey.

The other thing that comes out of the Strategy is hegemonic agenda.

This hegemony manifests in seeing Africa as turf for great power play. The role of China in the continent is portrayed as ‘ destructive’ and ‘ opportunistic’ seeking only to “challenge the rules- based international order, advance its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests, undermine transparency and openness, and weaken U. S. relations with African peoples and governments.”

Without bias, the role of China in transforming ordinary Batswana’s lives remains uncontested. I mean, their affordable and easily accessible farming implements have transformed agriculture sector and improved rural life. By that, I do not mean China’s role in the continent is without fault. I am just saying, it is not as gloomy as the picture painted in the Strategy. Further, the Strategy describes Russia’s role in the continent as a “permissive environment for parastatals and private military companies, often fomenting instability for strategic and financial benefit.” This coming from the people who brutally killed Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, can only speak of hypocrisy of the worst kind. The US should review its posture of framing its engagement with Africa as zero- sum competition over influence and infrastructure investment with China. Therefore, reducing Africans to pawns in the geopolitical chessboard and mere battlegrounds for resurgent great power competition.

Despite stipulating their desire to not be used as pawns in proxy rivalries, it is becoming difficult for African leaders to remain quiet and not pick sides. The divergent voting patterns and reticence on the part of some African countries to out- rightly condemn Russian over Ukraine or vice versa, reflected this dilemma.

Therefore, the task of balancing and maintaining relationship with both the West and the East has become a function of either existentialism or coercion. For many African leaders, it has become a means to an end. The reality is, Washington’s ‘ Uncle Sam’ approach in the continent has often failed to produce any dividends or leverage its image vis- à- vis China. Rather, the US has been suffering from a credibility gap and is finding the task of converting capital into influence, difficult.

It is unclear if Washington recognises how much the allure of its democracy has faded. The Biden administration evidently does not appreciate the global cost of US political dysfunction, and proceeds as if this dysfunction has not been on display. Further, there is still residual resentment at how our vaccine access played out at the height of the pandemic The entire issue of lack of vaccine access or “Vaccine Apartheid”, faced by African countries at the height of the pandemic is still fresh on its leaders’ and public’s mind.