Foreign Policy Blogs

Developing a Coherent US Policy in Somalia

The summary of a new report on US policy particularly off the coast of East Africa reads as follows:

A new U.S. emphasis on African maritime development — dedicated not only to rooting out piracy but also renovating ports and investing in job creation — could improve African security and economic growth.

Not to belabor the obvious (and this is not a criticism of the report but rather of US policy) but yes: a long-term, coherent, and holistic policy toward east Africa is better than an ad hoc, reactive, and piecemeal one.

 

Author

Derek Catsam

Derek Catsam is a Professor of history and Kathlyn Cosper Dunagan Professor in the Humanities at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. He is also Senior Research Associate at Rhodes University. Derek writes about race and politics in the United States and Africa, sports, and terrorism. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s and on the 1981 South African Springbok rugby team's tour to the US. He is the author of three books, dozens of scholarly articles and reviews, and has published widely on current affairs in African, American, and European publications. He has lived, worked, and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa. He writes about politics, sports, travel, pop culture, and just about anything else that comes to mind.

Areas of Focus:
Africa; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Apartheid

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