US Africa Policy After the Cold War (1991–2017) 331
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Foreign Intervention in Africa after the Cold War Ohio University Research in International Studies This series of publications on Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Global and Comparative Studies is designed to present significant research, translation, and opinion to area specialists and to a wide community of persons interested in world affairs. The series is distributed worldwide. For more information, consult the Ohio University Press website, ohioswallow.com. Books in the Ohio University Research in International Studies series are published by Ohio University Press in association with the Center for International Studies. The views expressed in individual volumes are those of the authors and should not be considered to represent the policies or beliefs of the Center for International Studies, Ohio University Press, or Ohio University. Executive Editor: Gillian Berchowitz Foreign Intervention in Africa after the Cold War SOVEREIGNTY, RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE WAR ON TERROR Elizabeth Schmidt Foreword by William Minter Ohio University Research in International Studies Global and Comparative Studies Series No. 19 Athens, Ohio Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 ohioswallow.com © 2018 by Ohio University Press All rights reserved To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax). Printed in the United States of America The books in the Ohio University Research in International Studies Series are printed on acid-free paper ƒ ™ Cover image: Young boy in Beni, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, playing near a MONUSCO vehicle, December 5, 2014. Photo by Abel Kavanagh/MONUSCO. 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Schmidt, Elizabeth, 1955- author. Title: Foreign intervention in Africa after the Cold War : sovereignty, responsibility, and the war on terror / Elizabeth Schmidt ; foreword by William Minter. Other titles: Research in international studies. Global and comparative studies series ; no. 19. Description: Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, 2018. | Series: Ohio University research in international studies. Global and comparative studies series ; no. 19 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018031702| ISBN 9780896803206 (hc : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780896803213 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780896805040 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Africa--Foreign relations--1960- | Africa--Politics and government--1960- | Africa--Foreign economic relations. | Terrorism--Africa--Prevention--History. | Political stability--Africa--History. Classification: LCC DT31 .S295 2018 | DDC 327.6009049--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031702 Contents List of Illustrations ix Foreword by William Minter xi Acknowledgments xvii Abbreviations xix chapter 1 Outsiders and Africa Political and Military Engagement on the Continent (1991–2017) 1 chapter 2 The Post–Cold War Context Shifting Paradigms and Misconceptions 23 chapter 3 Identifying the Actors Who Intervened and Why 46 chapter 4 Somalia Conflicting Missions and Mixed Results (1991–2017) 71 v chapter 5 Sudan and South Sudan Conflicting Interests and Inadequate Solutions (1991–2017) 101 chapter 6 Rwanda Genocide and the Failure to Respond (1991–94) 135 chapter 7 The Democratic Republic of Congo Outside Interests and Africa’s World War (1994–2017) 161 chapter 8 Liberia and Sierra Leone Regional War and License to Plunder (1990–2003) 187 chapter 9 Côte d’Ivoire Civil War and Regime Change (2002–11) 215 chapter 10 The Arab Spring in North Africa Popular Resistance, Backlash, and the Struggle for the Future (2011–17) 239 chapter 11 Mali and Nigeria Military Intervention and Unforeseen Consequences (2009–17) 293 chapter 12 US Africa Policy after the Cold War (1991–2017) 331 vi | Contents chapter 13 Epilogue Trump and Africa (2017–) 368 conclusion Assessing the Impact of Foreign Intervention 389 Notes 393 Glossary 425 Index 435 Suggested Readings follow chapters 2–12 Contents | vii Illustrations Maps 0.1 Africa, 2018 xxv 0.2 North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, 2018 xxvi 4.1 Horn of Africa, 2018 70 5.1 Sudan and South Sudan, 2018 100 6.1 Rwanda, 2018 134 7.1 Democratic Republic of Congo, 2018 160 8.1 Liberia and Sierra Leone, 2018 186 9.1 Côte d’Ivoire, 2018 214 10.1 North Africa, 2018 238 11.1 Mali and Nigeria, 2018 292 12.1 The United States in Africa, 2018 330 Photographs 4.1 US Marines participate in UNITAF search in Mogadishu, Somalia 80 4.2 Children walk past graffiti criticizing UN special envoy Jonathan Howe 81 4.3 Ethiopian troops participate in AMISOM patrol in Somalia 85 5.1 Armed children in southern Sudan 105 5.2 JEM rebels in Darfur, Sudan 120 6.1 French soldiers pass Hutu Rwandan army troops in Rwanda 151 ix 6.2 Children orphaned or displaced search for food in Zaire 152 7.1 Rwandan Hutu refugees on the jungle track in the DRC 167 7.2 Young soldiers of the Union of Congolese Patriots 173 7.3 Child gold miner in the DRC 174 7.4 Congolese army and MONUSCO reinforce their presence in the DRC 180 8.1 ECOMOG soldier from Nigeria provides security for ECOMOG personnel in Liberia 195 8.2 Unidentified rebel fighters during the Liberian civil war 198 8.3 RUF victim Abu Bakarr Kargbo, assisted by his son Abu 203 9.1 Rebel soldiers on patrol near the Liberian and Guinean borders in Côte d’Ivoire 224 9.2 Anti-Gbagbo protester in Abidjan 231 10.1 Tunisians protest the Ben Ali regime 247 10.2 Woman protesting the Mubarak government in Cairo 254 10.3 Egyptian protester mounts a bronze lion in Cairo 256 10.4 Rebels celebrate on abandoned Libyan army tanks 266 11.1 MNLA fighter stands guard in Mali 298 11.2 Ansar Dine fighter in Timbuktu, Mali 300 11.3 Chadian army soldiers participate in Operation Serval and AFISMA in Mali 303 11.4 French Operation Barkhane personnel speak with an elder in Mali 307 11.5 Nigerien soldiers fighting Boko Haram in Niger 322 x | Illustrations Foreword Elizabeth Schmidt’s earlier work, Foreign Intervention in Africa (2013), focused on the period 1945–91, with a brief concluding chapter on 1991– 2010. This companion volume focuses on 1991–2017, with a final chapter highlighting the potential impact of the Trump presidency. Schmidt’s ap- proach in the two volumes is similar. Her aim is not to provide a compre- hensive narrative or advance an explanatory theory, but to introduce a series of case studies, taking into account global narratives and common factors as well as the particularity and nuances of each case. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students as well as policy- makers, humanitarian and human rights workers, activists, and other concerned citizens, both books provide succinct and readable narratives, without detailed footnotes but with abundant recommended readings for those who wish to dig more deeply into particular cases.1 As such, they are unique resources that provide an overview and introduction to the complex realities they portray, complementing but not duplicating more detailed scholarly or journalistic accounts of specific cases. As this foreword is written in early 2018, the Trump presidency in the United States has been the catalyst for a level of uncertainty about the shape of the international political order not matched since World War II. Any predictions would be perilous, except to affirm that African countries will continue to be gravely affected by global political developments as well as by the distinct internal dynamics of specific countries and regions. As Schmidt explains, global narratives are both essential and mis- leading in explaining the course and outcomes of intervention in spe- cific conflicts. Thus the grand narrative of the “Cold War” between the United States and the Soviet Union, from 1945 to 1991, was decisive for interventions in African conflicts insofar as it motivated perceptions and policy in Washington, Moscow, and other capitals. Cold War percep- tions conflating radical African nationalism and communism affected xi policymakers, the media, and public opinion, not only in countries such as the United States and South Africa, but also in transnational networks and multilateral organizations. Even in this period, however, the Cold War paradigm was not fully hegemonic. The alternative framework of a united stand against Nazism, racism, and colonialism, linked to the common experience of World War II, was shared by Southern African liberation movements and by gov- ernments and movements around the world, including many in West- ern Europe and North America. An exclusive focus on the superpowers, moreover, ignores the distinct interests and roles of other external actors, including the European colonial powers and other communist states, most prominently Cuba and China. And finally, the interests of the African ac- tors involved in conflicts, and the colonial and precolonial histories of spe- cific countries, also shaped the outcomes. In some cases, African parties to conflict sought out foreign interventions—for their own reasons. Unraveling the course of any specific intervention thus requires a high degree of granularity, at the risk of asking the reader to assimilate a potentially bewildering range of names and places. Political actors such as states, parties, and agencies are not unitary: each is made up of sub- groups and individuals with distinct interests, ideologies, and analyses. Schmidt’s clear writing