The United States and the liquidation of European colonial rule in tropical Africa, 1941-1963

In the existing literature on the end of European colonial rule in Africa, the United States (U.S.) occupies a pride of place. The U.S., it is said, played a facilitating role, by prodding the Europeans into speedy political concessions to Africans. This viewpoint remains quite influential and is st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cahiers d'études africaines 2003-01, Vol.XLIII(3) (171), p.505-551
Main Author: Nwaubani, Ebere
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
African studies
Anti-colonialism
Colonial history
Colonial policy
Colonialism
Decolonization
Europe
Foreign policy
History
Postcolonial societies
Postcolonialism
U.S.A
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Summary:In the existing literature on the end of European colonial rule in Africa, the United States (U.S.) occupies a pride of place. The U.S., it is said, played a facilitating role, by prodding the Europeans into speedy political concessions to Africans. This viewpoint remains quite influential and is still regurgitated in textbooks and classrooms in African history. It does not matter that the claims for American anticolonialism are based, not on study of the relevant primary records, but on assumptions. The increasing availability, through declassification, of the U.S. official records strongly argues for an empirical study of a subject so germane to the Africanist discourse on decolonization. This is precisely what this paper does-and it clearly shows that the popular perception of the U.S. role in the decolonization process is very misleading. The U.S., its is quite apparent, desired and worked for a strong European presence in Africa, even after the independence. The paper also offers explanations for this policy behavior, and in the process, draws attention to other salient aspects of the U.S. policy towards Africa in the period 1941-1963: for example, the overly Eurocentric bias of policy, the interest in exploiting African resources for the rehabilitation of Europe, and Africa's low rating in U.S. strategic calculations. Reprinted by permission of Éditions de l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales
ISSN:0008-0055