Fort Worth Star Telegram quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on how President Obama’s West Point speech lacked a strategic long-term vision regarding US foreign policy in Africa:
Concerns about terrorism also clouded the president’s message to Africa, said J. Peter Pham, the director of the Africa Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. The administration has emphasized Africa’s economic promise for its upcoming summit of African leaders in Washington.”For all the desire to move on to the ‘New Africa,’ the ‘Old Africa’ of conflicts, terrorism, and other security and humanitarian concerns still consumes much of the attention that the continent and its nations receive in Washington, all too often crowding out the strategic, long-term picture.”