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² Of course, unlike the blind men, many analysts consciously choose to focus on one part of the elephant to argue their views of what the beast does, or should, look like.

³ Quoted in Sorensen, Theodore C., Decision-Making in the White House: the olive branch or the arrows (New York, 1963), p. 32.Google Scholar

⁴ Even under President Jimmy Carter, Africa accounted for only 10·9 per cent of his Administration's foreign-policy actions in 1977, still trailing all other regions of the world (the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe were second with 14·6 per cent) and, in fact, decreased in importance by nearly 50 per cent over the next three years. For an explanation and discussion of these figures, see Rosati, Jerel A., The Carter Administration's Quest for Global Community: beliefs and their impact on behavior (Columbia, SC, 1987), pp. 123, 130, 139, and 147.Google Scholar

⁵ Ball, George, The Disciples of Power (Boston, 1968), p. 240.Google Scholar

⁶ See Ohaegbulam, F. Ugboaja, ‘Containment in Africa: from Truman to Reagan’, in Trans Africa Forum (Washington, D.C.), 6, 1, Fall 1988, pp. 7–34.Google Scholar

⁷ Statement by Kornegay, Francis A. Jr, who Chaired a panel on ‘Great Power Relations After Perestroika’ at the 31st Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Chicago, 28–31 10 1988.Google Scholar

⁸ African issues previously were handled by the Bureau of Near Eastern and African Affairs, and before then by the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs.

⁹ Other Bureaux in the State Department, although generally in agreement over the necessity to pursue diplomatic options, have missions which can conflict with those pursued by African Affairs. For example, the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs is naturally more concerned with European sensitivities when African issues arise and, thus, serves to reinforce the executive branch's tendency to defer to European, as opposed to African, sensitivities.

¹⁰ African issues previously were divided between the C.I.A.'s European and Middle Eastern Divisions. For a useful critical anthology of the Agency's activities in Africa, see Ellen, Ray, William, Shaap, Karl, van Meter, and Louis, Wolf (eds.), Dirty Work 2: the CIA in Africa (Secaucus, NJ, 1979).Google Scholar

¹¹ African issues were handled prior to 1982 by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Near East, Africa, and South Asia. For an overview of the growing interests of the Defense Department in the continent, see Volman, Daniel, ‘Africa's Rising Status in American Defence Policy’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), 22, 1, 03 1984, pp. 143–51.Google Scholar

¹² Also involved in a very minor way are the varying (but limited) sized security detachments of the U.S. Marines that guard American embassies in Africa.

¹³ These observations result from the author's internship with the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti during 1987.

¹⁴ See Brown, Michael, Freeman, Gary, and Miller, Kay, Passing By: the United States and genocide in Burundi, 1972 (Washington, D.C., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1972).Google Scholar For an interpretation of events by the U.S. Ambassador to Burundi from 1969 to 1973, see Melady, Thomas Patrick, Burundi: the tragic years (New York, 1974).Google Scholar

¹⁵ Brown, , Freeman, , and Miller, , op. cit. p. 12.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Ibid. For the U.S. response to the outbreak of ethnic violence in August 1988, see Lemarchand, René, ‘Burundi: the killing fields revisited’, in Issue (Los Angeles), 18, 1, Winter 1989, pp. 22–8.Google Scholar

¹⁷ See Oneal, John R., Foreign Policymaking in Times of Crisis (Columbus, Ohio, 1982).Google Scholar

¹⁸ Halperin, Morton H., Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy (Washington, D.C., 1974), p. 99.Google Scholar

¹⁹ For an excellent discussion of this theme, see Smith, Hedrick, The Power Game: how Washington works (New York, 1988), especially chs. 8 and 15.Google Scholar

²⁰ For more information, see Mahoney, Richard D., JFK: ordeal in Africa (New York and Oxford, 1983), pp. 189–90, 195–7, and 204–6.Google Scholar

²¹ Ibid. pp. 209 and 215.

²² Acheson, Dean, Grapes from Thorns (New York, 1969), p. 187.Google Scholar See also, Brinkley, Douglas and Thomas, G. E., ‘Dean Acheson's Opposition to African Liberation’, in TransAfrica Forum, 5, 4, Summer 1988, pp. 63–83.Google Scholar

²³ Confidential interview.

²⁴ Quoted in Halperin, op. cit. p. 292.

²⁵ See, for example, Bender, Gerald J., Coleman, James C., and Sklar, Richard L. (eds.), African Crisis Areas and U.S. Foreign Policy (Berkeley, 1985), p. 1.Google Scholar

²⁶ See Ogene, F. Chidozi, Interest Groups and the Shaping of Foreign Policy: four case studies of United States Africa policy (New York, 1983), p. 84.Google Scholar See also Stremlau, John J., The International Politics of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970 (Princeton, 1977).Google Scholar

²⁷ , Ogene, op. cit. p. 84.Google Scholar

²⁸ For a good overview, see Marcum, John, ‘The Politics of Indifference: Portugal and Africa, a case study in American foreign policy’, in Issue, 2, 3, Fall 1972, pp. 9–17.Google Scholar

²⁹ See Danaher, Kevin, The Political Economy of U.S. Policy Toward South Africa (Boulder, 1985), p. 109.Google Scholar

³⁰ Brown, , Freeman, , and Miller, , op. cit. p. 13.Google Scholar

³¹ For a succinct analysis of this topic, from which the discussion throughout the remainder of this article is based, see Bender, Gerald, ‘Kissinger in Angola: anatomy of failure’, in René, Lemarchand (ed.), American Policy in Southern Africa: the stakes and the stance (Lanham, 1981 edn.). p. 43.Google Scholar

³² Quoted in Stockwell, John, In Search of Enemies: a CIA story (New York, 1978), p. 43.Google Scholar

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³⁶ Ibid.

³⁷ Ibid.

³⁸ See Rosati, Jerel A., ‘Congressional Influence in American Foreign Policy: addressing the controversy’, in Journal of Political and Military Sociology (New Brunswick), 12, Fall 1984, pp. 311–33.Google Scholar

³⁹ Danaher, , op. cit. p. 49.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Confidential interview.

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⁴² Crocker, Chester A., ‘The U.S. Policy Process and South Africa’, in Hero, Alfred O. Jr and Barratt, John (eds.), The American People and South Africa: publics, elites, and policymaking processes (Lexington, 1981), p. 49.Google Scholar

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⁴⁴ The greatest lack of interest occurred in 1963 when no Senator was willing to chair the Sub-Comraittee on Africa after Albert Gore (Democrat, Tennessee). The Majority leader, Mike Mansfield (Democrat, Massachusetts) who, in his own words, ultimately took the post ‘to avoid the embarrassment of leaving it unfilled’, had no time for the Sub-Committee, which became dormant. See Seiler, John Joseph, ‘The Formulation of U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa, 1957–1976: the failure of good intentions’, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1976, p. 275.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Prior to 1959, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had no permanent sub-committees. The following have chaired its Sub-Committee on Africa: Kennedy, Robert F. (1959–1960), Albert, Gore (1961–1963), Mike Mansfield (1963–1964), Frank J. Lausche (1965–1966), Eugene J. McCarthy (1967–1969), Gale W. McGee (1969–1972), Hubert H. Humphrey (1973–1974), Dick Clark (1975–1978), George McGovern (1979–1980), Nancy Kassebaum (1981–1986), and Paul Simon (1987– ).Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Kornegay, Francis A. Jr, Washington and Africa: Reagan, Congress, and an Afrcian affairs constituency in transition (Washington, D.C., 1982), p. 14.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Confidential interviews.

⁴⁸ Prior to 1959, the House Foreign Affairs Committee gave responsibility for Africa to the Near Eastern and Africa Sub-Committee. Thereafter its Sub-Committee on Africa has been chaired by O'Hara, Barratt (1959–1968), Charles C. Diggs (1969–1978), Stephen J. Solarz (1979–1982), Howard Wolpe (1981–1991), and Mervyn Dymally (1991).Google Scholar

⁴⁹ Wolpe, Howard, ‘Africa and the U.S. House of Representatives’, in Africa Report (New Brunswick), 29, 4, 07–08 1984, p. 68.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ For example, Senator Jesse Helms attempted to derail the Reagan Administration's policy of ‘constructive engagement’ by delaying Chester Crocker's confirmation as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs over a period of six months during 1981.

⁵¹ For articles summarising the rôle of Congress, see two works by Lancaster, Carol, ‘U.S. Aid to Africa: who gets what, when, and how’, in CSIS Africa Notes (Washington, D.C.), 25, 31 03 1984,Google Scholar and U.S. Aid to Sub-Saharan Africa: challenges, constraints, and change (Washington, D. C., 1988).Google Scholar

⁵² Interview with Weissman, Stephen R., Staff director of the House Sub-Committee on Africa, 17 May 1989.Google Scholar

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⁵⁴ See Ornstein, Norman J., ‘Interest Groups, Congress, and American Foreign Policy’, in Forsythe, David P. (ed.), American Foreign Policy in an Uncertain World (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1984), pp. 49–64.Google Scholar

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⁵⁶ Despite general differences concerning the proper course of U.S. Africa policies, see similar arguments in Lake, Anthony, The ‘Tar Baby’ Option: American policy toward Southern Rhodesia (New York, 1976), p. 285,Google Scholar and Crocker, , loc. cit. p. 156.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ See Challenor, Herschelle Sullivan, ‘The Influence of Black Americans on U.S. Foreign Policy toward Africa’, in Said, Abdul Aziz (ed.), Ethnicity and U.S. Foreign Policy (New York, 1981), pp. 143–8.Google Scholar

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⁵⁹ Weil, Martin, ‘Can the Blacks Do for Africa What the Jews Did for Israel?’, in Foreign Policy (Washington, D.C.), 15, Summer 1974, pp. 109–30.Google Scholar See also, Plummer, Brenda Gayle, ‘Evolution of the Black Foreign Policy Constituency’, in TransAfrica Forum, 6, 3–4, Spring-Summer, 1989, pp. 67–82.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Interview with Bob Brauer, special counsel to Representative Dellums, Ronald V., 25 May 1989.Google Scholar

⁶¹ Ibid.

⁶² Quoted in Hughes, Anthony J., ‘Randall Robinson: executive director of TransAfrica’, in Africa Report, 25, 1, 01–02 1980, p. 9.Google Scholar

⁶³ The terminology is that of Weissman, op. cit.

⁶⁴ See Weissman, Stephen R. and Carson, Johnnie, ‘Economic Sanctions Against Rhodesia’, in John, Spanier and Joseph, Nogee (eds.), Congress, the Presidency and American Foreign Policy (New York, 1981).Google Scholar

⁶⁵ The ‘40 committee’ reviewed funding proposals for covert intervention. The four members of this National Security Council sub-committee were Kissinger, William Clement, Deputy Secretary of Defense, William Colby, Director of the C.I.A., and General George S. Brown, who chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

⁶⁶ Bender, , loc. cit. p. 99.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ The Senate agreed to the Tunney Amendment by a vote of 54 to 22, and in January 1976 the House of Representatives concurred by voting 323 to 99 in favour.

⁶⁸ Bender, , loc. cit. p. 99.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ See Senate, U.S., Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: an interim report of the Select Committee to study governmental operations with respect to intelligence activities, 94th Congress, 1st Session (Washington, D.C., 1975).Google Scholar

⁷⁰ For a succinct overview, see Baker, Pauline H., The United States and South Africa: the Reagan years (New York, 1989).Google Scholar

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⁷² Ibid.

⁷³ Ibid. p. 31.

⁷⁴ Ibid.

⁷⁵ See, for example, Love, Janice, The Anti-Apartheid Movement: local activism in global politics (New York, 1985),Google Scholar and Metz, Steven, ‘The Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Formulation of American Policy toward South Africa, 1969–1981’, Ph.D dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1985.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Quoted in U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Sub-Committees on International Economic Policy and Trade, and on Africa, Legislative Options and United States Policy toward South Africa (Hearings, 9 04 and 4–5 06 1986), 99th Congress, 2nd Session (Washington, D.C., 1987), p. 246.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Quoted in Baker, Pauline H., ‘The Sanctions Vote: a G.O.P. milestone’, in The New York Times, 26 August 1986.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ For good discussions of this concept as applied to Southern Africa, see Tikhomirov, Vladimir I., ‘The U.S. and South Africa: an end to “Total Onslaught” ?’, in Africa Report, November–December 1989, pp. 58–61,Google Scholar and Leonid L. Fituni, ‘A New Era: Soviet policy in Southern Africa’, in ibid. July–August 1989, pp. 63–5.

⁷⁹ See Rotberg, Robert I. (ed.), Africa in the iggos and Beyond: U.S. policy opportunities and choices (Algonac, MI, 1988).Google Scholar

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⁸¹ See Flora Lewis, ‘Tide Reaching Africa’, in ibid. 21 April 1990, p. A15.

⁸² Confidential interview.

⁸³ ‘A Longing for Liberty’, in Newsweek (New York), 23 07 1990, p. 27.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Kraus, Clifford, ‘Strategic Interests Tie U.S. to Liberia’, in The New York Times, 13 June 1990, p. A3.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ See Gromyko, Anatoly A. and Whitaker, C. S. (eds.), Agenda for Action: African–Soviet–U.S. cooperation (Boulder, 1990).Google Scholar

⁸⁶ See Petterson, Donald K., ‘Democracy Can Take Hold in Africa’, in The New York Times, 19 May 1990, p. A15.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ Quoted in press release by U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, ‘Winds of Change in Africa’, 7 June 1990.