Professor Waters Talks About US-Africa Relations

Professor Robert Waters of the HPJ Department gave a talk for Phi Beta Delta on US-Africa Relations to students and faculty on Monday March 16th. Water's book on the same subject is currently being published by the Scarecrow Press website:

Water's began his talk by discussing current hot-spots on the continent, which include Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the Darfur region of Somalia, as well as Southern Africa, which may be politically stable, but where AIDS is epidemic.

He then proceeded to give an overview of Presidential efforts to help African nations. To most American presidents, Africa has not been a priority, unless other national interests, such as the Cold War or the War on Terror have caused them to notice the continent. Most US efforts have fallen under the heading of "Trade - Not Aid," that was originally articulated by the Eisenhower Administration in the late 50s. Waters argued that George W. Bush has probably been the US President who has payed the most attention to the beleaguered continent, by providing millions to combat the AIDS epidemic there.