U.S. Policy toward Southern AfricaU.S. Policy toward Africa by Frederick S. Arkhurst; American-Southern African Relations.Bibliographic Essays by Mohamed A. El-Khawas; Francis A. Kornegay,Review by: J. Leo CefkinAfrica Today, Vol. 24, No. 3, African Unity: Obstacles and Advances (Jul. - Sep., 1977), pp. 81-82Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4185711 .

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U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa

J. Leo Ceflin

Frederick S. Arkhurst, ed. U.S. POLICY TOWARD AFRICA. (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975) xii, plus 260 pp, $6.95.

Mohamed A. El-Khawas and Francis A. Kornegay, Jr. AMERICAN- SOUTHERN AFRICAN RELATIONS. Bibliographic Essays. (Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press, 1975) xvii and 188 pp., $11.95.

Southern Africa is experiencing a period of rapid change. U.S. policy toward the region has also had to undergo significant alteration in order to claim any relevance to an evolving new order in the area. Kissinger's Lusaka speech of April 27, 1976, articulated a new American policy. It also held out promise of a leadership role for Washington which had been rejected for at least a decade prior to this time. The early months of the Carter Administration featuring a leadership position on African matters for UN Ambassador Andrew Young gives promise that the United States will continue to play an influencial role in the resolution of the emerging crisis in southern Africa.

These observations guide this evaluation of the two volumes under review. Both were written shortly after the Portuguese coup which was universally perceived as having a decisive influence on the future of southern Africa. Both were completed before the independence of Angola and the Cuban intervention which added another vital force into the southern African equation. The merit of each volume may be advantageously assessed in terms of its contribution toward understanding the transitions experienced in southern Africa.

U.S. Policy Toward Africa is primarily concerned with policy toward southern Africa. The book consists of five main papers which deal with differing perspectives on American policy. Each paper is followed by one or two briefer statements commenting on the main paper. Most of the contributors to this volume attack U.S. policy. Only Herbert J. Spiro's chapter, "U.S. Policy: An Official View" and Clinton E. Knox's comment attempt to defend Washington's behavior in Africa.

On strength of this volume is the diversity of views which are presented. Even though the contributions are overwhelmingly critical and view U.S. policy as often inept and even morally reprehensible, the question of the sources of this policy is in dispute.

For Immanuel Wallerstein American policy derives mainly from its capitalist economy and its attempt to find a way out of an emerging world economic crisis. George Shepherd, in his comments on Wallerstein, denigrates the thesis of economic determinism and bases his evaluation on imperialism- racism as the guiding source of U.S. policy in general and toward Africa in particular.

J. Leo Cefkin is Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

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George Houser concludes that America's policy is morally obtuse because of Washington's preoccupation with global military strategies which causes unfortunate choices when it comes to southern Africa. Larry Bowman analyzes policy in the context of the changing international system and in the systemic alterations taking place in the southern African arena.

It is in this rich mixture of approaches that fruitful dialogue is enhanced. In several instances, those that emphasize economic determinism or the centrality of U.S.-Soviet competition, conclude that capitalism and anti-com- munism inevitably and unalterably align the United States with the white supremacist regimes. Professor Ofuatey-Kodjoe speaks of imperatives which include "alliance with the white supremacist regimes in southern Africa...." Other contributors, however, believe that U.S. policy is not inevitably anti- African and can be made more responsive to the interests of African nationalism.

As noted above, the volume is rich in ideas and judgments. Its usefulness is nevertheless reduced by an all too frequent recourse to judgments unsupported by data. Thus Wallerstein speaks of the maturing of an economic crisis which defines America's approach to Africa, but the characteristics of that crisis are not revealed, and only if one accepts his basic assumption is his line of argument persuasive. Similarly, American policy is attacked as racist, immoral, doomed to defeat - as though these judgments were self-evident. These contributions could hardly explain why the United States became a central influence in the negotiations of 1976 and 1977.

In sum too many of the contributions take on the aura of polemics, of stacking the argument to support a case, and only a few offer a rigorous analysis rather than "ammunition" for attacking U.S. policy.

On the other hand Larry Bowman and Clinton Knox with their analytical approach better explain why Washington's role in southern Africa has grown more important rather than irrelevant.

The collection of bibliographic essays, American-Southern African Relations, is a most useful aid for the study of American policy toward southern Africa. Five aspects of the southern African scene are reviewed in this volume. Prof. El-Khawas surveys the literature on U.S. involvement in Angola and Mozambique, Sulayman Nyang discusses publications on the U.S.-Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) relationship; Barbara Rogers provides a particularly exhaustive review of the literature on Namibia; and Francis A. Kornegay, Jr. treats the subject of writings on "Black America and U.S.-Southern African Relations." The subject of U.S. relations with South Africa is postponed for a subsequent survey but the literature concerning U.S. investments in southern Africa is also reviewed.

Each chapter of the book provides an interpretive comment on the nature of the cited works and suggests gaps in scholarly output in the subject matter. The tone of the essays are far less ideological than the contributions in the Arkhurst volume. Indeed, in Kornegay's chapter of conclusions, he stresses the transi- tional period which has begun in southern Africa and the bankruptcy of "ideologically strait-jacketed social policy action groups..." who haven't adjusted their approaches to new conditions.

Since this book has appeared much has been written about the continuing drama of southern Africa and the growing role of Washington in the region. To understand the present, one would do well to consult these bibliographies to find an essential background for today's events.

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