On July 5, 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush visited six West African nations in Africa to call attention to issues ranging from disease control to military intervention in Liberia. President Bush praised South African President Mbeki for his role in supporting the New Partnership for African Development, condemned slavery in a speech from Senegal's Gorée Island, and discussed the Economic Community of West African States with President Kufour of Ghana.

The trip is significant because as recently as three years ago, the Bush Administration did not place a high priority on Africa - a continent that, until now, has been largely bypassed by globalization. Today, though, instability in the Middle East and heightened fear of terrorist activity are prompting the U.S. to reexamine its policy toward the troubled continent.

Bush's visit can thus be seen as a sign that Africa has become a priority for the United States, one of the chief world architects of globalization. The U.S.'s professed commitment to fight AIDS, a possible deployment of peacekeepers in Liberia, and renewed pressure
for oil-rich states like Nigeria to negotiate more openly with Western oil
exploration companies, are all important first steps towards integrating
Africa into the world economy.

But U.S. proposed military intervention and oil exploration may not be enough to deliver economic stability for ordinary Africans.

Military Intervention in Liberia - Deliverance or Catastrophe?
Observers are doubtful that short-term military intervention will result in any tangible long-term benefit to Liberians. Most of Liberia's 3.3 million people are starving or sick, and a third are homeless, the result of continuous fighting since 1989. And according to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the woman most likely to succeed Liberian President Charles Taylor, it will take at least two years to stabilize the country once a U.S. led intervention is complete.

With the U.S. heading into an election year and concerns about the rising death rate of U.S. forces in Iraq, a long-term military commitment in Liberia might be politically untenable - particularly as the U.S. is currently facing criticism both at home and abroad for failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

If the U.S. is serious about retooling its Africa policy, it will be a triumph of globalization.

The Bush administration is thus forced to justify military intervention in failed states like Liberia solely on the basis of pre-empting future terrorist attacks - already, Bush has called for a $100 million initiative to help governments in East Africa combat terrorist networks. But this initiative may prove too limited to ease humanitarian crises such as that which the Liberians face.

Oil Exploration in West Africa is Fraught with Difficulties
With political fires smoldering in the Middle East, the U.S. is focusing on securing alternative sources of oil. West Africa is a hotbed of new oil exploration, and it is estimated that by 2008, production will rise 33 percent, from the current 4.5 million barrels of oil per day to 6 million per day.

But in West Africa, oil exploration and local corruption associated with oil royalty payments are frequently inseparable. Western governments are thus often seen as directly supporting brutal dictators and corrupt bureaucracies, as they funnel millions of dollars in royalty payments to the regimes that control oil.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and international human rights groups have recently exerted tremendous pressure on oil companies and African states to end this corruption and increase transparency regarding these transactions. As a result, two oil rich African states, Nigeria (the 13th largest oil producer in the world, and the fifth largest oil supplier to the United States) and Sao Tome, recently announced that details of future oil production agreements will be made public. Observers hope that this new transparency will lessen corruption, and will enable citizens of these countries to have greater input in how their governments spend national oil wealth.

The U.S.'s professed commitment to fight AIDS, a possible deployment of peacekeepers in Liberia, and renewed pressure for oil-rich states like Nigeria to negotiate more openly with Western oil exploration companies, are all important first steps towards integrating Africa into the world economy.

AIDS Prevention and Treatment: Underfunded Assistance?
Africa is a continent withering from the heavy toll that AIDS has taken on its inhabitants. This modern day plague has so far cost 18.8 million people their lives, with 34.3 million more suffering from the HIV/AIDS virus worldwide. As well, AIDS in Africa contributes mightily to malnutrition, as productivity in the farm sector has declined dramatically because of the epidemic.

It is therefore heartening that President Bush's African agenda includes a commitment to help combat AIDS. In his State of the Union Address, Bush urged Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years to fighting AIDS in African and Caribbean nations.

This amount still falls short, however, of the annual $10.5 billion the UN Commission on HIV/AIDS estimates will be needed to effectively fight the epidemic in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, the U.S.'s AIDS initiative, although now law, must still go through the legislature's appropriation process - and already, the House has budgeted one third less than the $3 billion called for in 2003.

A U.S.-African Partnership: Hope for the Future or Election Year Pandering?
Some commentators and journalists have questioned whether President Bush's African visit signals a commitment to helping the continent emerge from disease and stalled economic development, or whether it's a ploy to attract African American voters during an election year. If the U.S. is serious about retooling its Africa policy, it will be a triumph of globalization. Money to slow the number of AIDS cases and greater government transparency (particularly in managing natural resources like oil) will greatly benefit the poor in Africa.

There are indications that the U.S. is committed to trading with African countries. During his visit, Bush touted the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, noting that U.S. imports of manufactured goods from Sub-Saharan Africa rose 8 percent from 1996 to 2001. If, however, Bush's trip is just another public relations gambit, not backed up with beneficial policies for Africa, it will be seen as a globalization failure - and a cynical use of the global media conglomerate to further the Bush administration's goal of re-election in 2004.




Contributed by Amanda Howe, JD.

To read another Global Envision article about globalization in Africa, see A New Start for Africa.