Howard W. French: “America’s Downsized Relationship With Africa Is About to Go Totally Adrift”

A soldier carries the American flag during the inauguration of a military base in Thies, 70 km from Dakar, on February 8, 2016 on the second day of a three-week joint military exercise between African, US and European troops, known as Flintlock. SEYLLOU / AFP

Just a few days before Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi embarks on his latest visit to Africa, author and journalist Howard W. French complained that the United States appears to be going in the opposite direction — increasingly disengaged from Africa with a policy that is “about to go totally adrift.”

French highlighted the frequent visits to Africa by senior Chinese leaders and how they contrast with the Americans who rarely, if ever, send a cabinet-level official, much less the president himself, to Africa.

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by Eric Olander

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