"It's not gauche to remind these countries of the American people's generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine, says the email. Rather, it's essential to counter the false narrative that the United States isn't in many cases the largest donor and to ensure that we can more effectively leverage that assistance to advance our interests."
"Checker's appointment comes after the Trump administration released a new US national security strategy in November. That strategy outlines the administration's foreign policy priorities: promoting far-right interests in Europe, and taking a more transactional view towards much of the rest of the world. It says the US should transition from an aid-focused relationship with Africa to a trade- and investment-focused relationship."
"Checker's email elaborates further on what this strategy means, saying that in Africa the stakes are often limited, indirect and largely negative (risk management). To put it bluntly, Africa is a peripheral rather than a core theater for US interests that demands strategic economy, it says. Framing Africa as strategic' has often historically served bureaucratic and moral imperatives, not hard interests."
A leaked State Department email instructs US diplomats to unabashedly and aggressively remind African governments of American generosity, citing contributions to HIV/AIDS containment and famine relief. The email urges countering narratives that understate US donor leadership in order to better leverage assistance for US interests. Nicholas Checker, a former CIA conflict analyst, was appointed to lead the Bureau of African Affairs amid a new national security strategy. The strategy shifts from aid-focused engagement toward trade and investment, promotes transactional partnerships with market-opening reliable partners, and characterizes Africa as a peripheral theater requiring risk-management and selective engagement.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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