Africa, the US Battlefront for Influence

Published in Global Times
(China ) on 27 March 2023
by Song Wei (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Andrew Engler. Edited by Wes Vanderburgh.

 

 

 

Vice President Kamala Harris began her weeklong trip to Africa on March 26. According to Reuters, she will focus on discussing African debt problems, China's role and the U.S.' effort to "pitch itself as a better partner than China."

Driven to outmatch China, the U.S. is now attaching an importance to Africa rarely seen in the past. Just this year, the U.S. has had five senior official visits to Africa. Leading the charge was Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's January visit to Senegal, Zambia and South Africa to seek to strengthen economic ties; then, Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield went to Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya to discuss climate issues; First Lady Jill Biden visited Namibia and Kenya to promote women's empowerment; and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ethiopia and Niger seeking to boost cooperation, bolster security and consolidate the local ceasefire agreement in Ethiopia. Now, Harris is visiting Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia.

The world recognizes this series of visits as paving the way for Joe Biden's trip, during which he will distance himself from Donald Trump's arrogance and embrace Africa. However, this seemingly positive "transformation" maintains the logic of competition of the past in three ways:

First, the Biden administration is extending to Africa the conflict of security strategies with China and Russia. Blinken's visit exposed U.S. strategic concerns. Tigray, Ethiopia, has been at constant war, and the resulting escalation of humanitarian disasters put Tigray in the international spotlight. According to the African Union's special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, up to 600,000 people have been killed there as of mid-January. In response to this tragedy, the U.S.' sole contribution was its usual bludgeoning with the club of economic sanctions, terminating Ethiopian participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act on the grounds of human rights violations. Ethiopia's longstanding trade partner, China, has not only provided a large amount of humanitarian assistance to the Tigray region but has also advanced the initiative for peace and development in the Horn of Africa as a key component of Xi Jinping's global security initiative. Russia is also promoting dialogue between the conflicting parties.

Niger has always been at the forefront of anti-terrorism in the Sahel region. Also, as a former French colony, it had continued to be "protected" by the French military. Recently, due to strong dissatisfaction with France's anti-terrorism policies, Niger and many African countries expelled the French army, compelling the Macron government to admit its shortcomings and the need to restructure French-African relations. Russia, by contrast, has continuously increased its influence and military assistance to the region. Taken together, Blinken's choice of African countries to visit reveals U.S. intentions to compete with China and Russia for security agreements.

Second, the U.S. is holding out a carrot while asking Africa to choose sides. Harris will meet with the presidents of Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia and announce public and private sector investments. Zambia, the first African country to default on its sovereign debt under the COVID-19 pandemic, is currently restructuring debt with its creditors, including China. Harris is arriving with carrots on offer, obviously to encourage blaming China and choosing an alliance with the U.S. over China. The New York Times put it bluntly: "Harris looks to deepen relations amid China's influence." This is why Washington is launching a "charm offensive." As the first African American vice president, Harris will visit the Ghanaian Cape Coast Castle, a former slave castle, and give a speech on the brutality of U.S. slavery.

Last year, when Blinken went to Africa to announce the new U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, he criticized those African countries that chose not to cut economic ties with Russia and side with the U.S. At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit at the end of last year, although the word "China" was avoided during agenda-setting, it became a repeatedly used word during the meetings. Containing China's influence has become the core strategic goal in Africa. This U.S. pressure to pick sides makes deciding how to publicly express diplomatic relationships a thorny problem for African leaders.

Third, the strategic core driving U.S. international competition remains. This series of official visits to Africa not only reflects new weight given to the continent but also reflects the U.S.' reasserting its presence in economic and security cooperation and pressuring Africa to side with the U.S. in international institutions.

During the Trump administration, Washington ignored an Africa it held in contempt. The Western-centrism and dismissiveness toward Africa by the American political elite showed through Trump's "shithole countries" rhetoric. However, changes under the Biden administration are not due to U.S. concern with Africa's development but are rather driven by "competition" with powers outside of Africa.

The world has no illusions as to the geostrategic purposes behind the U.S. and its European allies' attention to Africa after the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Although the U.S. spares no effort to rope in Africa, China-Africa trade volume is five times that of the U.S.-Africa trade, and China's direct investment is twice that of the U.S. Furthermore, China has not only built large amounts of infrastructure in Africa, such as railways and bridges, but has also created millions of jobs for Africans. Therefore, it is self-evident how Africa should choose between the strong developmental cooperation offered by China and being a brick in the foundation of U.S. grand strategy.

Song Wei is a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University and the author of "The Stirred Strategy Bottom — Analysis of US Policy toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Its Evaluation after the Cold War (1990-2016)."


宋微:非洲被美国当成争夺影响力“战场”

美国副总统哈里斯从26日起展开为期一周的非洲之行,外媒称此行将以讨论中国的影响力和非洲国家债务问题为主,努力将美国塑造成一个“比中国更好的合作伙伴”形象。

可以说,美国近期对非洲的重视和在非洲“对标中国”的力度,是以往罕见的。哈里斯的访问也是今年以来美国高官第五次踏上非洲大陆。先是1月美国财政部长耶伦“打头阵”,访问塞内加尔、赞比亚和南非寻求加强美非经济联系;随后美国驻联合国大使格林菲尔德前往加纳、莫桑比克和肯尼亚探讨气候议题;“第一夫人”吉尔·拜登于2月下旬访问纳米比亚和肯尼亚关注“妇女赋权”;美国国务卿布林肯在本月14日至17日访问埃塞俄比亚和尼日尔,寻求巩固埃塞当地的停火协议,加强双边安全合作、提振双边关系。这次哈里斯先是访问加纳,之后到坦桑尼亚,最后前往赞比亚。

外界普遍认为,华盛顿接二连三派出高官访问是为总统拜登访非“打前站”,届时拜登将一改其前任的“傲慢”之风,登陆非洲、加大对非洲的关注力度。然而这一系列看似积极的“转变”中却始终蕴含着“不变”的战略竞争逻辑。

一是与中俄在非洲开展安全战略对抗。布林肯不久前访非选择了埃塞俄比亚和尼日尔两国,直接暴露了美国的战略担忧。对于埃塞俄比亚,该国北部的提格雷州战乱冲突不断、人道主义灾难升级成为国际关注焦点。据非盟非洲之角问题特使奥卢塞贡·奥巴桑乔称,截至今年1月中旬,该地区有多达60万人被杀。面对如此人间惨剧,美国以战乱为由,停止了埃塞俄比亚政府《非洲增长与机遇法案》的受惠国待遇,除了挥舞惯用的经济制裁“大棒”外,再无作为。而中国作为埃塞俄比亚传统的发展合作伙伴,不仅给予提格雷地区大量的人道主义援助,而且提出了“非洲之角和平发展构想”作为全球安全倡议项下的重要举措。同时,俄罗斯也正在埃塞俄比亚推动冲突双方开展对话。

至于尼日尔,该国一直处于非洲萨赫勒地区的反恐前沿,同时作为法国的前殖民地,持续受到法国的军事“保护”。近期,由于对法国反恐政策的强烈不满,包括尼日尔在内的多个非洲国家宣布驱逐法军,导致马克龙政府也承认受挫,不得不考虑构建“新型”法非关系。与此同时,俄罗斯在该地区的影响力则有所扩大,军事援助不断升级。因此,布林肯访非的国家选择明确暴露了安全战略争夺的意图。

二是抛出“胡萝卜”要求非洲选边站队。哈里斯此次访问,将与加纳、坦桑尼亚、赞比亚三个国家的总统会面,并计划宣布公共和私营部门的投资。据报道,赞比亚是首个在新冠疫情中拖欠主权债务的非洲国家,目前正与包括中国在内的债权人合作,以便达成一项协议。而哈里斯选择这个时候访问赞比亚并抛出“胡萝卜”,显然是想把矛头指向中国,让这个非洲国家在美中之间选边站队。美媒则说得更加直白:白宫正努力加深与非洲的联系,对抗中国在非洲的影响力。为此华盛顿还展开“魅力攻势”,哈里斯作为美国首位非洲裔副总统,她将参观加纳的海岸角奴隶城堡,并就奴隶制的残暴和美国非裔侨民发表讲话。

早在去年布林肯去非洲宣布新版的《美国非洲战略》时,就点名批评个别非洲国家没有站队美国,终止与俄罗斯的经济联系。而在去年底召开的美非峰会上,“中国”一词尽管在会前的议程设置上被极力避免提起,但是却成为现场讨论的高频词汇。遏制中国的影响力已经成为美国对非决策最核心的战略目标,为此在“选边站队”问题上如何表态成为非洲各国领导人最为头疼的事情。

三是 “外部竞争驱动”的战略内核未变。美国接连派高官访非体现出对于非洲的重视不断提升,不仅是想在经济和安全合作上重新建立存在,在国际影响力上美国也想拉非洲国家在多边机制场合站在自己这边。

特朗普执政时期,可以说华盛顿对非洲毫不在乎甚至轻蔑。从特朗普的“粪坑国家”言论可以看到,在“西方中心论”的心态下,美国政治精英基本无视非洲的国际地位。然而,拜登政府的转变并非美国开始从全球治理角度重视非洲的发展关切,其政策逻辑的本质与其前任甚至所有前任并无差异,那就是美国在非洲最关心的是确保霸权的影响力,应对非洲以外其他大国的“竞争”,这是美国忽略或者重视非洲的一切动机来源。
再看当下,俄乌冲突之后,美国和欧洲盟友又开始重视非洲,这背后到底出于什么原因?美国又有什么地缘战略目的?大家都心知肚明。
尽管美方不遗余力拉拢和敲打非洲,但目前中非贸易额仍是美非贸易的5倍、中国对非直接投资仍是美国的两倍,这些都是不争事实。再加上,中国对非洲的援助不仅为非洲建设了铁路、桥梁等大量基础设施,也为非洲创造了上百万的就业机会。因此,对于被美国置于“战略底端”实质地位与中非之间强劲的发展合作,非洲国家和人民如何选择,不言而喻。(作者是北京外国语大学国际关系学院教授,著有《被搅动的战略底端——冷战后美国对撒哈拉以南非洲政策及效果评估》一书)

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