‘Enormous Opportunities’ and ‘Hot Frontiers’: Sub-Saharan Africa in U.S. Grand Strategy, 2001-Present

Ryan, Maria

Abstract

This article argues that, in the 21st century, there has been a significant turnaround in the US approach to Sub-Saharan Africa. No longer is the region viewed solely as the site of human tragedy and internal wars where Washington has no tangible interests. Instead, US policymakers have increasingly viewed this part of Africa as a site of valuable commercial, geopolitical, and security interests—with particular emphasis on petroleum reserves, the market potential of its growing population, and its apparent locus as a site of transnational Islamist terrorism. Sub-Saharan Africa is now considered in grand strategic terms. Unintended consequences of US intervention are already visible, however; as it integrates the region into its global strategic calculus, the United States has begun to repeat mistakes made in other key regions of the world.

Citation

Ryan, M. (2019). ‘Enormous Opportunities’ and ‘Hot Frontiers’: Sub-Saharan Africa in U.S. Grand Strategy, 2001-Present. International History Review, 42(1), 155-175. https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2018.1529696

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 25, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 10, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-01
• Deposit Date: Sep 26, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 11, 2020
• Journal: International History Review
• Print ISSN: 0707-5332
• Electronic ISSN: 1949-6540
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 155-175
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2018.1529696
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1134715
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07075332.2018.1529696
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International History Review on 10 January 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07075332.2018.1529696