Does the United States have a coherent foreign policy in Africa?
It doesn’t anymore. The U.S. had a Cold War policy predicated on keeping African leaders in place who would do our bidding. But once the Soviet Union fell apart, that was no longer necessary. These countries were never nirvana, but there was a sort of orderliness to them and they hadn’t dissolved into anarchy. The U.S. had pumped a lot of money into African countries, and it cut those programs. Great powers don’t act out of altruism. When the national interest disappeared, the U.S. essentially abandoned places like Malawi and dozens of other African countries. When you put AIDS on top of extreme poverty, lack of health care, lack of education, lack of infrastructure and lack of good leadership, the situation is catastrophic. Q: And yet many average people and congregations in our area are sending money and volunteering in Africa. Is that pointless? A: Not at all. I speak to church groups in the Hudson Valley, and I encourage them. Their acts of kindness and generosity are making a posi
