Every so often the Rev. Jesse Jackson makes a few notable and insightful comments. His most recent HuffPo article about ‘Why Africa Matters’ is one of those moments. I have postulated in the past that as the demographics of America evolves, so too will our foreign policy and international relations voice, values, interests, priorities and objectives. We’ve seen that most recently in how President Obama chooses to engage the world. Some call it “smart power” or “public diplomacy” as a paradigm shift in our foreign policy approach. Others have most recently framed these changes in terms of ‘The End of Macho‘ or a decline in the underlying paradigms of the Anglo-American or Eurocentric male dominance ethos in framing foreign policy issues and international relations. The sharp contrast, for instance, between former president George Bush – a semi-literate, go-it-alone, blue-blood, poker playing, red-meat eating, “macho” Texan; and Barack Obama – a bi-racial, up from the bottom, community organizing, consensus building, wine-sipping, intellectually nuanced, constitutional law teaching, internationalist from the South side of Chicago by way of Hawaii are excellent example of how demographic changes “shift” foreign policy values and priorities in a nation. Although the prevailing majority will resist change and defend the status-quo — as some of President Obama’s most vocal and gratuitous critics have shown recently — demographic shifts will inevitably be reflected in changing foreign policy values and priorities.
Further, our U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice and State Department Secretary, Hillary Clinton‘s recent roll-out of the Obama Administration’s view of U.S foreign policy called for a ‘New Era of Engagement‘ with the world based on common values, shared interests and mutual respect. Similarly, the development of official government websites such as America.gov that conveys the American values we aspire to as a nation.
Despite the impact of the global economic crisis, GDP growth in Africa has declined from a robust 6.0% in 2007 to 5.1% in 2008, and is expected to be 2.6% in 2009 and then a rebound in 2010 based on World Bank estimates. And according to 2008 figures from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, global trade with Africa is approximately $500Bn, while the trade and economic potential of the continent is twice that amount at $1 Trillion. The U.S. – largely driven by AGOA – accounts for only $66Bn of that amount, while Europe and increasingly China, South Asia and Brazil driving 80% of the remaining trade and commerce with the African continent. In addition, unbeknownst to most, Africa has joined the ‘space race’ led by the continent’s two economic powers; and several nations are developing close military ties with China and India which will help to fuel the emergence of future markets for military and technological commerce – directly competing with U.S. leadership in that market.
Further, non-traditional, but still every bit quintessentially American interests representing hundreds of billions in business, technology, entertainment, faith-based, professional sports, agricultural, food distribution and charitable interests increasingly owned or controlled by Native and African Americans, Latinos, East and South Asian Americans, and women need to have a voice in the development and execution of U.S. foreign policy as a bridge to expanding our national interest into new and interesting places that may pave the way for better relations with the rest of the world – not to mention increasing our global competitiveness and expanding national GDP. Is anyone listening..??
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From HuffPo, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson —
We ignore Africa at our peril.
In vital resources — oil, copper, diamonds, gold, timber and more — the continent is rich beyond imagination. Indeed, Africa is more breadbasket than basket case. The United States is projected to import some 25 percent of its oil from Western Africa in the coming years. While the U.S. media pays Africa little attention, the Chinese leads by far in the mad dash for a share of the continent’s natural treasures. Using some of the money it makes in trade with the U.S., China is investing heavily across Africa, building highways, hotels, bridges and dams, seeking to lock up long term access to resources and the good will of African leaders. The United States is way behind.
The African continent will only become more important in the future. The whole world has a stake in what happens there. For decades, Africa was little more than a pawn in the Cold War, before that the playing field of competing imperialist nations. Now it is a key geographic territory in the fight against terror after al-Qaida blew up embassies in Somalia and Kenya. The continent’s mineral resources reinforce its strategic importance.
That is why I recently spent five days in Cote d’Ivoire, meeting with its current President and opposition leaders and addressing youth groups and religious figures, as the West African nation prepares for a crucial Presidential election on Nov. 29 — a day that will go a long way in determining the future of democracy in the region. For most of its 49-year history as an independent nation, Cote d’Ivoire has been a shining light of a dimly viewed West Africa. Politically stable, culturally tolerant and economically vigorous, Cote d’Ivoire was and is a regional powerhouse. As one U.S. Embassy official described the nation of 18 million people to me, Cote d’Ivoire was to its neighbors what the United States is to Mexico and Central America. “This is where people went to find work,” the official said. “If this economy gets shut down you will see a dramatic impact on the entire region.” Cote d’Ivoire produces 40 percent of the world’s coco and is a major exporter of bananas, coffee, cotton, palm oil, pineapples, rubber, timber and tuna. In recent years, according to U.S. Embassy figures, petroleum exports have risen significantly, and petroleum is now the country’s largest foreign exchange earner. As I toured its sprawling port — the second largest in Africa — I saw five cargo ships loaded with fruit and vegetables headed to Europe. Abidjan, its biggest city once known as “Little Paris,” was a popular destination for tourists from the United States and Europe for years.
That was my message as I met separately with President Laurent Gbagbo and leaders of the two opposition parties who are vying for the Presidential Palace. I had a long and fruitful discussion by phone with Henri Konan Bedie, a former president running for his old job, and I sat down with representatives of Alassane Ouattara, who was out of the country, seeking medical treatment in Paris.
As I made clear whenever and to whomever I spoke, I was there not to support a candidate but to support the process of democracy. In addressing a pan-African youth conference and a meeting of Muslim and Christian religious leader I asked the people and the candidates to agree to three basic principles.
Number one: Campaign diligently and fairly.
Number two: Use the language of reconciliation and not destruction.
Number three: Publicly pledge to support the winner.
I reminded him and everyone else I met that we in the United States had once been divided between North and South, locked in our own bloody civil war. After that war we suffered through generations of American apartheid. It took a century before the right to vote of every American citizen was protected by law. Through the depth of that pain, Americans are learning to live together across lines of class, gender and race.
America rose from the ashes of pain and division. [Africa] can rise as well.
