SIMON BARBER: China and Russia have spurred US interest in Africa
The approach is even more condescending than usual coming from the Trump administration
Shortly before Christmas, John Bolton, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser — he of the large albino caterpillar on his upper lip — went to the Heritage Foundation, where Republicans are said to think, to unveil Trump’s Africa strategy. It was, he said, “the result of an intensive interagency process”. The White House was proud to have produced the thing so quickly, “about two years earlier than the prior administration’s release of its Africa strategy”. As if anyone was keeping score. “Under our new approach, every decision we make, every policy we pursue, every dollar of aid we spend will further US priorities in the region,” said the moustache. That previous administrations had any other priorities was news, at least to me. I don’t recall Chester Crocker, Ronald Reagan’s great proconsul, ever saying: “I’m doing this for Fiji.” The moustache continued: “We want our economic partners in the region to thrive, prosper and control their own destinies.” Not just thrive...
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