Pambazuka News 346 Special Issue: Bush in Africa - Bush out of Africa

Tim Newman asks whether Bushs' view of trade and investment is really not paternalistic.

A central aspect of President Bush’s trip to Africa is the promotion of neoliberal trade policies and foreign direct investment as a path to “empowerment” and a “culture of self-reliance and opportunity.” The president has explicitly rejected “the paternalistic notion that treats African countries as charity cases, or a model of exploitation that seeks only to buy up their resources.”

But wi...read more

Dear Pambazuka Community,

We are very pleased to bring you this Special Issue, a collaboration with Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF). First Clinton, then Blair and now Bush – it seems Africa is fast becoming a legacy maker. With Iraq up in flames and Afghanistan still at war, and with a Pakistan where democratic voices are assassinated, Africa (a few select countries) for Bush seems like a logical destination. But what is his legacy?

Activist organizations Africa Action, Afri...read more

Leaders from African advocacy organizations in the U.S and in Africa are available for interviews on President Bush’s trip to Africa scheduled for February 15-21.  The leadership can review the key policy areas that will be addressed by Mr. Bush on his final trip to the continent as president. They will also express their concerns about Mr. Bush’s presidential legacy as it relates to Africa.  A transcript from today’s audio press conference is available upon request. 
Suggested topics f...read more

Gerald LeMell, the executive director of Africa Action forecasts US Africa policy and argues that In this election year, the U.S. government will pursue a mixed approach to elections in Africa, upholding democratic ideals or looking the other way, depend- ing on military, economic and political alliances. Climate change will be a hot topic in U.S. electoral debates, but it is unlikely that the devastating environmental prospects for Africa will be featured, much less addressed, in U.S.-Africa...read more

Someone very important is visiting Africa, specifically 5 countries including Tanzania, Rwanda, Benin, Ghana and Liberia. He is the President of the United States of America. The hassles of hosting a U.S. president are bad enough. His people take over your whole country and make our normally inefficient states go into over drive and our egregious First Ladies and their husbands go into overkill to show their hospitality. We never knew many of them could bend their knees until they were leadin...read more

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