Microsoft Word - Seminar Summary Report US election _2_.doc

This report summarizes a seminar held on October 17, 2008, at the United Nations Conference Center regarding the implications of the 2008 US Presidential Election for Africa. The event featured presentations by Dr. Steven Erkovich and Dr. Joseph Vincent Ebode, who analyzed US foreign policy motivations, the specific propositions of candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and the strategic rationale behind Obama's candidacy.

• US foreign policy toward Africa is driven by four primary motivations: integrating Africa into the global economy and trade to alleviate poverty and reduce war; pursuing peace and security to safeguard US interests, particularly in the war against terrorism; promoting strong democracy and good governance to align global values and facilitate predictable business; and a commitment to fighting diseases.
• While the substance of US foreign policy toward Africa was expected to remain consistent regardless of the winner, Barack Obama proposed specific strategies including a coherent approach for Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, halting genocide in Sudan, addressing corruption in Kenya, increasing maritime presence in the Niger Delta, and pressuring Robert Mugabe. John McCain proposed mobilizing the international community to use sanctions to oust President Mugabe from power in Zimbabwe.
• The candidacy of Barack Obama was analyzed as having both internal and external drivers. Internally, it represented the maturity of the American political system and a repositioning toward the black community. Externally, it was viewed as a strategy to regain African resources and markets in competition with China and Europe, and as a potential means to redirect funds toward Africa by exiting the war in Iraq.
• Seminar participants concluded that Africans should have tempered expectations for the new administration, as US interests remain primarily business-oriented. Furthermore, urgent global crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, and issues with Iran were expected to monopolize the new administration's attention, potentially delaying responses to African problems.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Microsoft Word - Seminar Summary Report US election _2_.doc. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMUSELECT.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Microsoft Word - Seminar Summary Report US election _2_.doc. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMUSELECT.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Microsoft Word - Seminar Summary Report US election _2_.doc |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMUSELECT.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndmicrosoft, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Microsoft Word - Seminar Summary Report US election \_2\_.doc}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMUSELECT.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }