Trump administration will not have sweet medicine for Africa
Trade in commodities will continue but the continent will not be top of the list of foreign policy priorities while humanitarian aid will come under review, writes David Levin
On November 8, to everyone’s surprise, US voters — and perhaps to a lesser extent, Russia President Vladimir Putin — gave Donald Trump the keys to the Kingdom. And as he prepares to assume the throne on January 20, suffice to say he will have a full plate of foreign policy challenges awaiting him on day one. Friend and foe alike have got to be more than a little concerned as Trump will be like no other US president before him. And they know it. Iran, Syria, North Korea and Islamic State (IS) now comprise the 2017 iteration of the "Axis of Evil", as George W Bush so aptly coined it back in 2002. Add our "frenemies" such as China and Russia and the group resembles a school of piranhas waiting to strike a gravely injured fish swimming by. Each one poses multidimensional foreign policy nightmares for Trump — everything from armed conflicts at hot spots around the world to trade disagreements, nuclear threats, terrorism, cyber security and state-sponsored hacking, climate change, currenc...
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