African Allies Research Articles

Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the Collapse of the Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961–1975 by Natalia Telepneva

<i>Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the Collapse of the Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961–1975</i> by Natalia Telepneva

Africans Had No Business Fighting in Either the 1914–1918 War or the 1939–1945 War

The wars of 1914–1918 and 1939–1945 are without parallel in the expansive stretch of decades of the pan-European conquest and occupation of Africa in creating such profound opportunity to study the very entrenched desire by the European conqueror-states in Africa to perpetuate their control on the continent and its peoples indefinitely. The two principal protagonists in each conflict, Britain and Germany, were the lead powers of these conqueror-states that had formally occupied Africa since 1885. Against this cataclysmic background of history, Africans found themselves conscripted by both sides of the confrontation line in 1914–1918 to at once fight wars for and against their aggressors during which 1 million Africans were killed. Clearly, this was a case of double-jeopardy of conquered and occupied peoples fighting for their enemy-occupiers. In the follow-up 1939–1945 war, when Germany indeed no longer occupied any African land (having been defeated in the 1914–1918 encounter), Britain and allies France and Belgium (all continuing occupying powers in Africa) conscripted Africans, yet again, to fight for these powers in their new confrontation against Germany, and Japan, a country that was in no way an aggressor force in Africa. Hundreds of thousands of Africans were killed in this second war. In neither of these conflicts, as this study demonstrates, do the leaders of these warring countries who occupied (or hitherto occupied) Africa ever view their enforced presence in Africa as precisely the scenario or outcome they wished their own homeland was not subjected to by their enemies. On the contrary, just as it was their position in the aftermath of the 1914–1918 war, Britain, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal in 1945 each envisaged the continuing occupation of the states and peoples of Africa they had seized by force prior to these conflicts. Winston Churchill, the British prime minster at the time, was adamant: ‘I had not become the king’s first minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire’. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the anti-German ‘free French forces’, was no less categorical on this score: ‘Self-government [in French-occupied Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific and elsewhere in the world] must be rejected – even in the more distant future’.

4 - The Quagmire of US Militarism in Africa

In the period of the so-called War on Terror, US militarism in Africa has intensified to include the weaponisation of finance, the weaponisation of trade, psychological warfare, information warfare and the deployment of private military contractors in the so-called ‘security sector reform’. In the face of African resistance, the deployment of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has unleashed disaster after disaster, from the catastrophic failures in Libya to the sequences of failure in the Sahel region. The death of four US service personnel in Niger in 2017 along with the killing of non-white soldiers in Africa by white supremacists in the US military have similarly exposed the deficiencies and racism inherent in the US security establishment. In the context of US military involvement in the Middle East, currency wars and capital flight from Africa, the US travel ban on Muslims exposed the contradictions of African allies and sharpened their clear alliance with the empire despite the overt racism of Making America Great Again. The quagmire of US militarism is now exposing the current manifestations of white supremacy. In addition to contextualising and accounting for these developments across the continent, this article argues that progressive scholars cannot be bystanders in the struggles against militarised global apartheid. Africans must grasp the lessons of global racism to re-ignite the progressive pan-African traditions that were able to roll back apartheid in its crude form. Horace G. Campbell, International Peace and Justice Scholar and Professor of African American Studies and Political Science, Syracuse University, New York, USA. Email: hcmombara@gmail.com

Narrative Technique as a Vehicle of Meaning in Ayi Kwei Armah’s Osiris Rising

Ayi Kwei Armah is one of the foremost African writers who has relentlessly devoted and dedicated his artistic works to the course of Africa. Against the background of the Formalists approach to the appreciation of Literature, this article examines Armah's deployment of such Narrative Technique as Point of view, character / characterization and symbol as a vehicle of meaning in his sixth novel, Osiris Rising. The article concludes that in accordance with his Pan-African stance, Armah, through his masterly deployment of the afore mentioned narrative technique, commits his art to the total rejection of all manner of neo-colonial tendencies, especially, the Euro-centric education system, and the oppression and exploitation of Africans by the Western forces and their African allies, as well as advocate the liberation of Africa from Western fetters.

MANUFACTURING SOVEREIGNTY AND MANIPULATING HUMANITARIANISM: THE DIPLOMATIC RESOLUTION OF THE MERCENARY REVOLT IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 1967–8

AbstractIn 1967, European and Katangese mercenaries revolted against the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) intervened to try to have the rebels peacefully leave the DRC. Katangese troops who fled to Rwanda with white mercenaries were forced by the Organization of African Unity and the Rwandan government to return to the DRC, where they were eventually executed. White mercenaries, under the protection of the ICRC and Rwanda, ultimately escaped Mobutu's wrath. Congolese and Rwandan leaders skillfully employed the ideal of African sovereignty and humanitarian rhetoric with its Western and African allies to ensure their consolidation of power.

Gifts from Our Elders: African Artsand Visionary Art History

Gifts from Our Elders: African Arts<i>and Visionary Art History</i>

‘We recommend compliance’: bargaining and leverage in Ethiopian–US intelligence cooperation

ABSTRACTDisputes over the costs and benefits of intelligence liaisons between the US and its African allies are routine. The contentious and largely overlooked bargaining processes that stem from these disputes call into question prominent depictions of US–African security partnerships as rigidly hierarchical alliances. Through an assessment of compliance bargaining between Ethiopia and the US over the terms of their intelligence liaison, this article posits that, despite the vast power asymmetry between these allies, Ethiopia routinely dictated and policed the terms of this liaison, while consistently leveraging it as means to acquire political concessions from the US.

Making the Loyalist Bargain: Surrender, Amnesty and Impunity in Kenya's Decolonization, 1952–63

ABSTRACTIn fighting Mau Mau rebels in Kenya between 1952 and 1956, the British armed and deployed an African militia, known as the Kikuyu Home Guard. This article considers the role played by these allies in the counter-insurgency war, looking specifically at amnesty and surrenders. The British held secret talks with Mau Mau leaders in 1954, and again in 1955, to organize rebel surrenders. The politics of surrenders split the Mau Mau movement, and also raised massive opposition amongst white settlers. Amnesty and impunity were inducements to Mau Mau surrenders, but were offered primarily to prevent disaffection and desertion among loyalist Kikuyu African militia allies who feared prosecution for abuses and atrocities carried out during counter-insurgency operations. Loyalist Africans also feared the consequences of rebels returning to their home communities. Amnesty and promises of impunity thus shaped the character of Kenya's counter-insurgency campaign and the decolonization that followed. This was determined by the need for the British to secure the continued support of African allies up to Kenya's independence in 1963, and beyond.

‘To Form a Correct Estimate of their Nothingness when Compared with It’: British Exhibitions of Military Technology in the Abyssinian and Ashanti Expeditions

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the portrayal and reception of novel military technology as constructed spectacle in the popular coverage of the British Abyssinian (1868) and Ashanti (1873–74) expeditions. A series of cases are explored in which commanders attempted to frighten and subdue African allies and enemies through the mere presentation of technology, as are the interpretations and subsequent representations of African reactions which were made by British officers and journalists.

Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of African diploid barbs, ‘Barbus’, and allies in Africa and Asia (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)

African diploid barbs (‘Barbus’, Clypeobarbus, Barboides, etc.) are a group of small cyprinids with a body size less than 20 cm and widely distributed in drainages across Africa. These species constitute a significant component of African freshwater fish fauna. This study is the first to focus on the molecular systematics and biogeography of African diploid barbs ‘Barbus’ and its African and Asian allies using both mitochondrial and nuclear genes. We test for monophyly of groups, determine interspecific relationships and estimate the time of divergence of 52 species of ‘Barbus’ and allies using two mitochondrial and four nuclear genes. Resulting trees demonstrate that ‘Barbus’ and allies (Systomus, Barboides, Clypeobarbus and African tetraploid barbs) form a strongly supported clade; however, ‘Barbus’ is not resolved as monophyletic. Divergence time analyses identify the separation between Systomus and ‘Barbus’ plus African allies may have occurred around 26 MYA. In addition to the phylogenetic results, these findings highlight the need for more thorough taxonomic and systematic studies on ‘Barbus’ and allies using morphological and additional molecular data and greater taxon sampling, including the type species of the genus Enteromius, ‘Barbus’ potamogalis.

Africa – The People’s Republic’s exclusive playground?

The President of Republic of China (ROC, hereafter Taiwan), Ma Ying-jeou, recently wrapped up his state visit to the country‟s so-called African allies, Burkina Faso, the Gambia and Swaziland. On the African continent, Taiwan has maintained diplomatic relations with four countries: the three countries mentioned above and São Tomé and Príncipe. This state visit was aimed at reaffirming the relations, however São Tomé and Príncipe cancelled President Ma‟s visit at the last minute, and considering that this kind of high level visit is organised in advance, the incident stirred up concerns over the further erosion of the Taiwan‟s diplomatic standing on the continent. Will the continent be Mainland China‟s exclusive playground?

Taking Care of Unfinished Business and the Business of the 21st Century

This article examines the work of an imaginary Institute for Advanced Study in Civil Rights as a model of changed oriented knowledge production, preferably in a major research university in the Deep South. The work of this Institute covers the span of the finished and unfinished business and unanticipated consequences in both respects for the 1940s–1960s sociological generation of African American civil rights leaders and their non–African American allies, as well as post-1960s issues this generation was unable to see or comprehend.

Kenya, the United States, and Counterterrorism

This essay examines U.S. security aid to Kenya, the experiences of those affected by counterterrorism initiatives, and the ways in which Kenya's internal sociopolitical dynamics shape America's counterterrorism agenda. U.S. counterterrorism strategy on the African continent entails the coordination of diplomatic pressures and aid-related incentives. In response to multiple terrorist attacks and American stimulus, Kenyan authorities have expanded their efforts to apprehend violent extremists, yet these efforts have led to a variety of human rights abuses while exacerbating historical frictions between the Kenyan government and minority Muslim communities. Evidence from Kenya suggests that unless U.S. policymakers and their African allies address the social tensions upon which counterterrorism is being grafted, security aid may produce few results beyond the alienation of Muslim communities and the empowerment of domestic security forces with greater martial resources.

Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism by Miranda K. Hassett

Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism by <i>Miranda K. Hassett</i>

Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies are Reshaping Anglicanism. By Miranda K. Hassett. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. xv + 297 pp. $39.50 cloth.

Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies are Reshaping Anglicanism. By Miranda K. Hassett. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. xv + 297 pp. $39.50 cloth.

Miranda K. Hassett. Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. xiv + 295 pp. Figures. Notes. Index. $39.50. Cloth.

Miranda K. Hassett. Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. xiv + 295 pp. Figures. Notes. Index. $39.50. Cloth. Hassett's study is a timely one. The recent extension of African ecclesiastical jurisdiction over dissident congregations in the United States seems to confirm an immanent schism in the Anglican Communion, in which a conservative American minority - allying with a Southern Anglican majority - will break from the North. Indeed, the debate over the policy of the U. S. Episcopal Church on homosexuality has cast the Anglican Communion as an exemplar of the realignment of world Christianity, characterized by a corresponding polarization of liberal and conservative values. African archbishops have crucially shaped the terms of this debate within both the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion, inasmuch as the transformation of many American Episcopal parishes into missionary churches of African dioceses has reversed the legacy of colonial evangelization. Drawing on the work of Philip Jenkins, Hassett sets out the terms of this global-shift model and shows that the partnership of American conservatives and African Anglicans is the result of neither a uniform social or theological orthodoxy nor an inevitable rise of Southern Christian authority. Instead, the of conservative Anglicanism is the work of strategic coalition-building across space and culture (exemplified best by the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Bishops, when mobilization around the sexuality resolution supplanted a competing focus on debt relief and poverty, on which Southern Anglicans shared more common ground with liberal constituencies) . Meticulously researched, the book is based on (but not limited to) extensive fieldwork in an American dissident congregation and in the Church of Uganda, and the sources offer a range of perspectives among leadership, clergy, and laypeople. This comparative framework demonstrates how homosexuality is in fact the touchstone for a host of larger issues, which have as much to do with contests over material resources and power as they do with moral authority within the Anglican community. At the heart of Hassett's intervention lies a critical investigation of the global as a frame of both analysis and experience. Hassett writes against globalization (10) by treating the development of Anglican globalism as the product of human agency rather than structural forces. She also situates the Anglican case within a widespread debate about whether perpetuates or unhinges older forms of Western hegemony. The book's collective progression suggests the answer to this question. …

Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies are Reshaping Anglicanism. By Miranda K. Hassett

Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies are Reshaping Anglicanism. By Miranda K. Hassett

Anglican Communion in crisis: how Episcopal dissidents and their African allies are reshaping Anglicanism

Anglican in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism. By Miranda K. Hassett. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. 320 pp. $39.50 (cloth). This gem of a book based on Miranda Hassett's dissertation in anthropology urgently needs to be. read and discussed by many throughout the Anghcan Communion. It will appeal to those still trying to understand what happened at Lambeth 1998 as they prepare for Lambeth 2008, as well as others looking for a fresh perspective on the global Anglican controversy. Hassett studied Anglicans in Uganda and in America who were forming transnational alliances before and after Lambeth 1998, alliances that are transforming the practice of Anglican Christianity. Rather than chronichng just a North-South realignment, Hassett personalizes the relationships between fellow Anglicans behind the scenes of those global debates. A third of Hassett's book is a summary of conversations with Anglicans in Uganda and the United States with reflections on how other Anglicans might learn from these relationships. In a welcome departure from more standard anthropological studies, these Anglicans are not Hassett's subjects but rather her consultants in an accessible book written in a literary rather than scholarly style. As encouraging as Hassett's version of global Anglicanism is in this book, she does not lose sight of the breakaway and controversial nature of transnational alliances. She points, for example, to the website of the American Anghcan Council (AAC), which bears the title Road to Realignment. She notes that realignment here captures the idea of connection along lines of affinity, whether within or across diocesan or provincial boundaries, rather than connection or belonging through the older Eurocentric structures of the Communion (p. 153). And Hassett does an excellent job of placing this innovation in historical context. Historically, Anglicans have respected jurisdictional boundaries that prevent bishops from crossing over and between dioceses or provinces without the permission of the local bishop. These boundaries are now being crossed by several African bishops even though the bishops of the Anglican have not intentionally agreed to change the juridical relevance of these historical boundaries. Though the bonds of affection between bishops have historically held the Anglican together, jurisdictional boundaries and the authority of local bishops are not covered by any binding agreements. And there is the rub. A number of efforts throughout the Anglican have been associated with addressing this vacuum through covenants, transnational alliances, parallel Anglican dioceses, alternative episcopal oversight, conscience clauses, and even extended conversation in diocesan conventions and synods. Yet few who are energized by such efforts appreciate that Anglicans are free to leave but no authority exists for expelling Anglicans from the Communion. Hassett provides sociological evidence that transnational alliances are actually common in many contexts, though the church is slow to capitalize on their global networking opportunities. In advance of Lambeth 2008 Anglicans would do well to consider the possible role these alliances might play in transforming cross-boundary relationships. They could be a temporary accommodation until the Anglican decides on how to proceed. …

Editorial

Contents editorial Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu ‘Broken Calabashes and Covenants of Fruitfulness’: Cursing Barrenness in Contemporary African Christianity Sasha Newell Pentecostal Witchcraft: Neoliberal Possession and Demonic Discourse in Ivoirian Pentecostal Churches Michael Comerford The Angolan Churches from the Bicesse to the Luena Peace Agreements (1991-2002): The Building of a Peace Agenda and the Road to Ecumenical Dialogue reviews Erlich, Haggai , Saudi Arabia & Ethiopia: Islam, Christianity & Politics Entwined (by T erje Ø stebø ) Hassett, Miranda K. , Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism (by K evin W ard ) Nyberg Oskarsson,

Hassett, Miranda K., Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and eir African Allies are Reshaping Anglicanism

Hassett, Miranda K., Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and eir African Allies are Reshaping Anglicanism