HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama is quietly but strategically stepping up his outreach to Africa, using this year to increase his engagement with a continent that is personally meaningful to him and important to U.S. interests.
Expectations in Africa spiked after the election of
an American president with a Kenyan father. But midway through his term,
Obama's agenda for Africa has taken a backseat to other foreign policy goals,
such as winding down the Iraq war, fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and
resetting relations with Russia.
Obama aides believe those issues are now on more
solid footing, allowing the president to expand his international agenda. He
will focus in Africa on good governance and supporting nations with strong
democratic institutions.
Obama delivered that message on his only trip to
Africa since taking office, an overnight stop in Ghana in 2009, where he was
mobbed by cheering crowds. In a blunt speech before the Ghanaian parliament,
Obama said democracy is the key to Africa's long-term development.
"That is the ingredient which has been missing
in far too many places, for far too long," Obama said. "That is the
change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that
can only be met by Africans."
The White House says Obama will travel to Africa
again and the political calendar means the trip will almost certainly happen
this year, before Obama has to spend more time on his re-election bid. No
decision has been made on which countries Obama will visit, but deputy national
security adviser Ben Rhodes said stops will reflect positive democratic models.
The administration is monitoring more than 30
elections expected across Africa this year, including critical contests in
Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
"The U.S. is watching and we're weighing
in," Rhodes said.
John Campbell, a senior fellow at the Council on
Foreign Relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said the different
elections give the Obama administration the opportunity to establish clear
policies.
The administration "should be less willing to
cut slack when those elections are less than free, fair and credible,"
Campbell said.
The White House can send that message right now as
it deals with the disputed election in Ivory Coast and an upcoming independence
referendum in Sudan, which could split Africa's largest country in two.
Rhodes said the president has invested significant
"diplomatic capital" on Sudan, mentioning the referendum in nearly
all of his conversations with the presidents of Russia and China, two countries
which could wield influence over that Sudan's government.
When Obama stopped in at a White House meeting last
month of his national security advisers and United Nations ambassadors, the
first topic he broached was Sudan, not Iran or North Korea. And as lawmakers on
Capitol Hill neared the December vote on a new nuclear treaty with Russia,
Obama called southern Sudan leader Salva Kiir by telephone to offer support for
the referendum.
White House officials believe the postelection
standoff in Ivory Coast could be the model for Obama's stepped-up engagement in
Africa.
The president tried to call incumbent President
Laurent Gbagbo twice last month, from Air Force One as Obama returned from
Afghanistan and then a week later. Neither call reached Gbagbo; administration
officials believe the Ivorian leader sought to avoid contact. So Obama wrote
Gbagbo a letter, offering him an international role if he stopped clinging to
power and stepped down.
But Obama also made clear that the longer Gbagbo
holds on, and the more complicit he becomes in violence across the country, the
more limited his options become, said a senior administration official. The
official insisted on anonymity to speak about administration strategy.
Rhodes said the White House understands that U.S.
involvement in African politics can be viewed as meddling. But he said Obama
can speak to African leaders with a unique level of candor, reflecting his
personal connection to Africa and that his father and other family members have
been affected by the corruption that plagues many countries there.
Officials also see increased political stability in
Africa as good for long-term U.S. interests — a way to stem the growth of
terrorism in east Africa and counterbalance China's growing presence on the
continent.
The U.S. was caught off guard during the 2009
climate summit in Copenhagen when several African countries voted with China
and not the U.S., the administration official said. The official said the
administration must persuade African nations that their interests are better
served by aligning with the U.S.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
