Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror

290 Pages·2013·3.42 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Schmidt

more information - www.cambridge.org/9780521882385

Foreign Intervention in Africa
ForeignInterventioninAfricachroniclestheforeignpoliticalandmilitaryinter-
ventions in Africa during the periods of decolonization (1956–75) and the
Cold War (1945–91), as well as during the periods of state collapse (1991–
2001)andthe“globalwaronterror”(2001–10).Inthefirsttwoperiods,the
most significant intervention was extracontinental. The United States, the
SovietUnion,China,Cuba,andtheformercolonialpowersentangledthem-
selvesincountlessAfricanconflicts.Duringtheperiodofstatecollapse,the
mostconsequentialinterventionswereintracontinental.Africangovernments,
sometimesassistedbypowersoutsidethecontinent,supportedwarlords,dic-
tators,anddissidentmovementsinneighboringcountriesandfoughtforcon-
troloftheirneighbors’resources.Theglobalwaronterror,liketheColdWar,
increasedtheforeignmilitarypresenceontheAfricancontinentandgenerated
externalsupportforrepressivegovernments.Ineachofthesecases,external
interests altered the dynamics of internal struggles, escalating local conflicts
intolargerconflagrations,withdevastatingeffectsonAfricanpeoples.
ElizabethSchmidtisProfessorofHistoryatLoyolaUniversityMaryland.She
is the author of Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946–1958 (2007),
which received the African Politics Conference Group’s 2008 Best Book
Award,andMobilizingtheMasses:Gender,Ethnicity,andClassintheNational-
istMovementinGuinea,1939–1958(2005),whichreceivedAlphaSigmaNu’s
bookawardforhistoryin2008.Her1992book,Peasants,Traders,andWives:
Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870–1939, was awarded a special
mentionintheAlphaSigmaNubookcompetitionforhistory,wasafinalist
for the African Studies Association’s Herskovits Award, and was named by
Choicean“OutstandingAcademicBookfor1994.”

New Approaches to African History
SeriesEditor
MartinKlein,UniversityofToronto
EditorialAdvisors:
WilliamBeinart,UniversityofOxford
MamadouDiouf,ColumbiaUniversity
WilliamFreund,UniversityofKwaZulu-Natal
SandraE.Greene,CornellUniversity
RayKea,UniversityofCalifornia,Riverside
DavidNewbury,SmithCollege
New Approaches to African History is designed to introduce students to cur-
rent findings and new ideas in African history. Although each book treats a
particular case, and is able to stand alone, the format allows the studies to
beusedasmodulesingeneralcoursesonAfricanhistoryandworldhistory.
Thecasesrepresentawiderangeoftopics.Eachvolumesummarizesthestate
of knowledge on a particular subject for a student who is new to the field.
However,theaimisnotsimplytopresentviewsoftheliterature,itisalsoto
introduce debates on historiographical or substantive issues and may argue
foraparticularpointofview.Theaimoftheseriesistostimulatedebate,to
challenge students and general readers. The series is not committed to any
particularschoolofthought.
OtherBooksintheSeries:
1. Africasince1940,byFrederickCooper
2. MuslimSocietiesinAfricanHistory,byDavidRobinson
3. ReversingSail:AHistoryoftheAfricanDiaspora,byMichaelGomez
4. TheAfricanCity:AHistory,byWilliamFreund
5. WarfareinIndependentAfrica,byWilliamReno
6. WarfareinAfricanHistory,byRichardJ.Reid

Foreign Intervention in Africa
From the Cold War to the War on Terror
Elizabeth Schmidt
LoyolaUniversityMaryland
Foreword by William Minter
cambridgeuniversitypress
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521709033
(cid:2)C ElizabethSchmidt2013
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2013
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Schmidt,Elizabeth,1955–author.
ForeigninterventioninAfrica:fromtheColdWartotheWaronTerror/Elizabeth
Schmidt,LoyolaUniversityMaryland.
pagescm.–(NewapproachestoAfricanhistory;7)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-88238-5(hardback)–isbn978-0-521-70903-3(paperback)
1.Africa–Foreignrelations. 2.Africa–Politicsandgovernment. 3.Africa–
Foreigneconomicrelations. 4.Insurgency–Africa–History. I.Title.
dt31.s32 2013
327.6009(cid:3)045–dc23 2012035195
isbn978-0-521-88238-5Hardback
isbn978-0-521-70903-3Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
urlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationand
doesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateor
appropriate.
Coverphotograph:AngolansoldierwithSoviet-madeAK-47Kalashnikovsubmachine
gun,guardingSoviet-madeground-to-airmissilesnearCuitoCuanavale,Angola,
February29,1988(PascalGuyot/AFP/GettyImages)
Contents
illustrations pageix
acknowledgments xi
forewordbywilliamminter xiii
abbreviations xvii
1
Introduction
18
1 Nationalism,Decolonization,andtheColdWar,1945–1991
2 EgyptandAlgeria:RadicalNationalism,Nonalignment,and
35
ExternalInterventioninNorthAfrica,1952–1973
57
3 TheCongoCrisis,1960–1965
4 WarandDecolonizationinPortugal’sAfricanEmpire,
79
1961–1975
103
5 White-MinorityRuleinSouthernAfrica,1960–1990
143
6 ConflictintheHorn,1952–1993
165
7 France’sPrivateAfricanDomain,1947–1991
193
8 FromtheColdWartotheWaronTerror,1991–2010
227
Conclusion
index 231
vii