Africa poses steep challenges and opportunities for new U.S. administration

By Michelle Gavin 

As is typical in the U.S. election cycle, U.S. Africa policy does not figure prominently—or at all—in most discussions of the candidates’ foreign policy platforms. That’s a shame, because Africa is changing rapidly, with old relationships and regimes under new stress.   

Metastasizing instability in the Sahel, tension and the threat of state collapse in the Horn, and continued fragility in Central Africa are bringing insecurity to more societies, and opportunity to external actors promising to tamp down threats in exchange for resources and influence. Afropessimism is lazy and reductive, as some changes do bring new opportunities to unleash the continent’s potential, but there is no escaping the reality that the region confronts massive challenges. At the same time, the United States is struggling with an inability to protect its own interests and build lasting partnerships in the midst of so much turmoil at home and abroad.  

Already, the U.S. election cycle