Abstract
As the Biden administration’s first term nears its conclusion, this essay takes stock of the emerging consequences of its approach to US foreign relations with Africa. It does so by assessing change and continuity in US relations with the African states that have been selected by the Biden administration for Global Fragility Act partnerships: Libya, Mozambique, and, as a region, the coastal West African states of Ghana, Guinea, Togo, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire. Passed in late 2019, the Global Fragility Act was hailed as a policy innovation meant to bring better coordination and long-term planning to US attempts to prevent conflicts and engender stability in regions of concern for Washington. This essay argues that these aims will be undermined by the dearth of new proposals advanced by the Global Fragility Act as well as the Biden administration’s overarching commitment to counterterrorism and geostrategic competition in Africa.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sobukwe Odinga
Sobukwe Odinga is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a PhD in Political Science, and his research examines African security politics and the role of race in US foreign policy. E-mail: [email protected].