Why Trump should make Africa a foreign policy priority
Now that the most rancorous election campaign in living memory is over, if Americans are to “bind the wounds of division,” as President-elect Donald Trump called for in his magnanimous victory speech, and come together “on one team” after this “intramural scrimmage,” as President Obama put it in his remarks on the morrow of election day, then what is needed during this transition period is to identify some policy areas where genuine bipartisan consensus can be found around measures consonant with the new administration’s articulated policy vision to provide it with some early leadership successes.
On the foreign policy front, Africa stands out as one such opportunity — a somewhat ironic twist, given that it hardly came up at all during the race and was not even mentioned explicitly by either candidate in their three presidential debate encounters.But why should a Trump administration, arriving in office without having had to pay much heed to Africans, their advocates or concerns, now make a priority of these?
