Media and Speaking Engagements
A New Face, But an Old Tactic: History Offers Clues on Stopping Russia’s African Advance
May 2024
by Herman J. Cohen
The conflict in Gaza has taken center stage in global affairs. But while the eyes of the world are drawn to the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been working in the background to expand Russia’s influence in Africa. His tactics are drawn from the Soviet Union’s Cold War playbook. He offers military support, now via the mercenary Wagner Group, to unstable regimes across the continent, helping them retain power in exchange for diplomatic allegiance and natural resources.
If the US does not meet this issue head-on, the consequences for African nations and the international community could be dire. US policymakers should look at the history of the Soviet Union’s diplomacy on the African continent– a period I witnessed personally as a diplomat on the ground– for clues on how to effectively respond to and combat this growing issue.
Read the original article A New Face, But an Old Tactic: History Offers Clues on Stopping Russia’s African Advance | American Diplomacy Est 1996 (unc.edu)
Deepening Working Relationships in Africa
The energy sector, broadly defined, offers enormous scope for investment and economic development as U.S. constructive engagement in Africa deepens. As always, however, the proof will be in the pudding.
BY HERMAN J. COHEN
The second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit took place in Washington, D.C., in December 2022 after nearly a decade. The Biden administration’s policy statement emphasized human rights, good governance, food security, peace, and a favorable environment for private sector investments. The summit’s focus was on extending and deepening the partnership between the U.S. and Africa.
The first summit, hosted by President Barack Obama in 2014 and themed “Investing in the Next Generation,” had focused on trade and investment in Africa and highlighted America’s commitment to Africa’s security, its democratic development, and its people. Representing the U.S. Corporate Council on Africa there, I attended the session in which African leaders met with representatives of the American business community and have a vivid memory of President Obama scolding the Africans with statements like, “You must get rid of corruption.”
Yet despite the tough rhetoric, in the following years U.S.-Africa relations continued much as before, with annual foreign aid budgets around $7 billion. Although the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which had been enacted in the year 2000, continued to give African countries duty-free entry for their manufactured products, only the Republics of South Africa and Senegal and the Kingdom of Lesotho have been able to take advantage of it. At the same time, however, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) established in 2004 and USAID’s Power Africa initiative established in 2013 have made steady progress in constructively engaging with Africa.
Read the original article Deepening Working Relationships in Africa (afsa.org)
US diplomat Herman Cohen reflects on lifelong career linked to Africa
ByLarry Luxner -January 16, 2024
Years ago, Herman Jay “Hank” Cohen, then-assistant US secretary of state for African affairs, was invited to dine with Mobutu Sese Seko, the corrupt despot who ruled Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), on his lavish river boat. Mobutu, trying to impress the American diplomat, told him he had just received an expensive shipment of pink champagne from Paris.
But Cohen hated pink champagne, so he just asked for a Coke. After much back-and-forth, the deeply insulted Mobutu instructed his butler in French to bring Cohen a Coca-Cola. Then the president turned to Cohen, and in halting English, mockingly declared: “I do not want to violate your human rights.”
Later in his career, the retired diplomat schmoozed half a dozen times in Libya with the country’s strongman Muammar Qaddafi, whom he labeled an “evil genius.” Once he even secretly met Qaddafi at an office building in Tripoli as the self-declared “Dear Leader” was protected by a contingent of heavily armed female bodyguards in high heels.
Read the original article US diplomat Herman Cohen reflects on lifelong career linked to Africa | Washington Diplomat (washdiplomat.com) .
U.S.-Africa Policy Chief Hails Buhari's Counter-Terrorism Advice
The Founder of Rosslyn Group, a Washington-based government relations firm specializing in Africa, Mr. John Rosenberg, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari's August 15, 2021, article published in The Financial Times of London.
Speaking recently at 2021 US-Nigeria Investments Summit held in New York, a side event of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Rosenberg described that Buhari's article as a sensible roadmap for US international relations.
The Rosslyn Group founder, urged his audience at the summit to revisit the Buhari's article owing to its "profound recommendations" for the United States in Africa, specifically concerning its approach to counterterrorism.
Read the original article on This Day.
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo: A Charm Offensive Gone Wrong
AFRICA EXECUTIVE
The long-serving president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, was a last-minute invitee to Washington’s big dance. Instead of a full-on persuasion campaign what Obiang instead received was nothing less than a cold shoulder. The 80-year-old, six term leader was so incensed that he skipped a White House banquet attended by his fellow African leaders and promptly left town.
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo: A Charm Offensive Gone Wrong | Africa Executive (africa-executive.com) .
A Wake-Up Call for US Policy Toward Africa
By John M Rosenberg Updated Apr 12, 2020
“If China steps forward with an ambitious rescue package while the United States dithers with inaction Africa will be all but lost for a century.”
During the 2016 presidential campaign, I authored an article expressing a “sense of lackluster” that had set in when it came to U.S. engagement with Africa. Since the end of the Cold War important matters such as trade, investment, and diplomacy with the continent has stagnated. In that article, I called for a renewed dynamism between the U.S. and the nations of Africa.
UNGA Keynote Speaker
It was a pleasure discussing US - Nigeria security and intelligence cooperation these past two sessions of the UNGA. I look forward to assisting Nigeria along with other African nations with the all important US-Africa Leaders Summit in December.