Africa and U.S. National Interests: The United States and Africa

The American Assembly

June 1958

Final Report on the Thirteenth American Assembly

At the close of their discussions the participants in the Thirteenth American Assembly, at Arden House, Harriman, New York, May 1-4, 1958, on THE UNITED STATES AND AFRICA reviewed as a group the following statement. Although there was general agreement on the Final Report, it is not the practice of The American Assembly for participants to affix their signatures, and it should not be assumed that every participant necessarily subscribes to every recommendation included in the statement.

Preamble

Africa has entered upon the stage of world affairs in a role that demands the attention of the American people. The United States is involved in every corner of the globe; what this nation does or fails to do will affect Africa. In turn, events in Africa will have an impact on the United States.

The great size and diversity of the African continent make broad generalizations difficult. We have concentrated on Middle Africa--that portion lying south of the Sahara and north of the Union of South Africa--but have taken cognizance of the northern and southern areas where essential. Political, economic, and social forces in Africa are so interwoven that policies and actions with respect to one must of necessity involve the others: progress must be made on all fronts.

Our fundamental premise is that the peoples of Africa will ultimately determine their own relationships with each other, with Europe, and with the rest of the world. The United States must continue its historic role in furthering the principle of self-determination.

Political advance

The pace of advance toward self-determination is governed by a variety of considerations. It should be fast enough to respond to the growing aspirations of the African peoples and hence to further their orientation to democratic values. It should permit the development of those institutions and individual skills needed for viable economic and political systems. American policies should stimulate the growth of such institutions and skills by every means appropriate to a great power which has no territorial possessions in the area. These policies should be pursued in our relationships with the metropolitan powers and through international agencies as well as in our contacts, public and private, with the peoples of Africa.

While there can be no precise timetable for the attainment of self-determination, there should be steady progress toward that goal. In certain situations it would be advantageous to establish intermediate targets for specific political advances toward self-government. In predominantly African areas, political advancement involves primarily the formation of a corps of African administrators and the acquisition of progressively greater political experience. In multi-racial areas, progress is hampered by racial tensions that are inimical to full democracy. In these areas, political advance requires increasing participation by Africans in government as a transition toward a society in which color is politically irrelevant. Premature independence in multi-racial areas might retard the development of democratic communities.

The attainment of self-government need not impair the interdependence between the European metropolitan countries and present African territories. The democratic forms that emerge in Africa need not be indentical with European or American political institutions; they may well reflect the loyalties and values that lie deep in African cultures.

It is of prime importance to encourage institutions in Africa which preserve broad and effective participation in government and the right of public dissent from governmental action. We should strive for the maintenance of friendly associations between Africa and the West, but formal alliance is not essential to that end.

Our position on African issues in the United Nations and other international agencies should reflect our commitment to the principles of self-determination and human equality. In the United Nations, the United States should refrain from lending support to the racial or colonial policies of member states where such policies are opposed to those principles. Our United Nations representatives should play a positive role in furthering the advancement of dependent peoples in accordance with the Charter. Finally, we should view with sympathetic understanding the requests of the new African Members for United Nations assistance.

Economic development

The United States exerts a powerful influence in the economic sphere in Africa.

Maintenance of a rapid tempo of economic development is essential. This means that capital must continue to flow into the African continent, both in support of basic facilities and for the development of mining, agriculture, and industry. Wherever possible, capital should be made available from private sources. In this respect it is important that attitudes equitable to private investment be encouraged. It is also essential that the European governments continue to aid the economic growth of African communities including the newly independent states.

The American government should help finance African development plans which are economically sound, to the extent that this is necessary to supplement private investment, financing from other governments and international agencies. In some circumstances it may become necessary to help finance projects which are politically or socially justifiable even though they do not meet the full range of economic criteria.

The United States government should increase its economic aid to Africa. It should make greater use of multilateral arrangements, which are often more acceptable politically and psychologically to the recipient countries. Such arrangements could include aid through United Nations agencies and through flexible multilateral forms of cooperation among the United States, Western European countries, other free-world nations and African states. Multilateral arrangements might help European-African economic relations, tap new sources of capital and personnel, and benefit our own relations with both Europe and Africa.

Economic aid should not be devoted solely to large-scale projects. Africa is predominantly agricultural and will remain so for many years to come. Technical aid can raise the standard of living of African peoples through the improvement of land utilization and farming methods. Similarly, assistance to small business and local commerce can do much for African economies. Much greater efforts are needed to stimulate the development of African enterprise in agriculture, secondary industry, distribution and transportation.

African economies are particularly vulnerable because they are dependent on the export of a limited range of primary products. Their growth depends heavily upon an expanding world economy in which the American role is especially important. In this regard, the United States must be careful in formulating its foreign economic policy, including the setting of tariff rates and import quotas, and the disposal of agricultural surpluses.

The United States should develop a permanent career service for technical and economic assistance abroad. We should provide African area and language training for American technicians, and give them longer periods of residence in those sections of Africa to which they are assigned.

Educational and social progress

For the development of Africa in every field, literacy and schooling are crucial. Recognizing that primary and much of secondary education is largely a matter of local responsibility, American aid should give priority to strengthening African technical and higher education and the training of African teachers. Our educational exchange programs should be extended and so should opportunities for African students to secure advanced training in the United States, particularly in fields where facilities are not available in Africa. Special note should also be made of the importance of educating African women. We recognize the need for education not only of Africans but also of Americans about Africa.

The United States Information Service has made an excellent beginning in establishing good relations between the people of America and the peoples of Africa. This program should be strengthened. Its personnel should have career status, and the appropriation of funds for its use in Africa should be increased. Additional national and private funds should be made available to support libraries and other informational media.

We express satisfaction at the increasing attention being devoted to Africa by government agencies. In like manner we are heartened by the expansion of programs of American universities and colleges, religious and philanthropic organizations, and business enterprises. Further steps in this direction are strongly endorsed.

We reaffirm the principle of self-determination for African peoples. We look to the orderly evolution of democratic political systems which, building upon indigenous African institutions, will also profit from those benefits brought to Africa from Europe. The relationship between the races in Africa offers a problem of great difficulty, as racial sentiments run deep. America is not without fault on this score. Racial tensions in this country are inimical to our relations with Africa, but progress on this front has been an asset. The members of the Assembly affirm their belief in equality for all races in all countries.

Participants

RAYMOND B. ALLEN Chancellor University of California Los Angeles ROBERT L. ALLER Harriman Scholar Columbia University DANA T. BARTHOLOMEW Vice President Aluminium Limited, Inc. New York FRANCES P. BOLTON Congresswoman from Ohio ROBERT R. BOWIE Director Center for International Affairs Harvard University PAUL J. BRAISTED President Edward W. Hazen Foundation New Haven COURTNEY C. BROWN Dean Graduate School of Business Columbia University WILLIAM O. BROWN Director African Research and Studies Program Boston University LT. GENERAL CLOVIS E. BYERS Military Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs) Washington, DC GEORGE W. CARPENTER International Missionary Council New York GWENDOLEN M. CARTER* Professor of Government Smith College SIR ANDREW COHEN British Representative Trusteeship Council United Nations JAMES S. COLEMAN+ Professor of Political Science University of California Los Angeles ADMIRAL RICHARD L. CONOLLY President Long Island University REVEREND JOHN J. CONSIDINE Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America Maryknoll L. GRAY COWAN+ Assistant Director School of International Affairs Columbia University JOHN COWLES President The Minneapolis Star & Tribune Minnesota IRA H. CRAM Senior Vice President Continental Oil Company Houstion WINTHROP MURRAY CRANE, 3RD Crane & Company Dalton, MA DANA S. CREEL Director Rockefeller Brothers Fund New York LEONARD W. DOOB Professor of Psychology Yale University ANGIER BIDDLE DUKE New York VERNON A. EAGLE Executive Director The New World Foundation Chicago RUPERT EMERSON Professor of Government Harvard University LEON FALK, JR. Pittsburgh ARTHUR B. FOYE Haskins & Sells New York C. DALE FULLER Social Science Foundation University of Denver LLOYD K. GARRISON Paul Weiss, Wharton & Garrison New York THEODORE GEIGER Chief of International Studies National Planning Association Washington, DC WALTER GOLDSCHMIDT Professor of Anthropolgy & Sociology University of California Los Angeles WILLIAM A. HANCE+ Professor of Economic Geography Columbia University MELVILLE J. HERSKOVITS Program of African Studies Northwestern University

CLARENCE E. HILL Harris, Upham & Company Minneapolis HAROLD K. HOCHSCHILD Chair of the Board of Directors American Metal Climax New York JULIUS C. HOLMES Special Assistant to the Secretary of State Washington, DC RALPH INGERSOLL Publisher Middletown Times-Herald New York LADY BARBARA WARD JACKSON Accra, Ghana CHARLES C. JARCHOW President American Steel Foundries Chicago W.R. JEEVES Vice President Parke, Davis & Company Detroit JOSEPH E. JOHNSON President Carnegie Endowment for International Peace New York MORDECAI W. JOHNSON President Howard University Washington, DC WILLIAM O. JONES Executive Secretary Food Research Institute Stanford University ANDREW M. KAMARCK* International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Washington, DC COLONEL G.A. LINCOLN Professor and Head of Department of Social Sciences United States Military Academy West Point GEORGE C. McGHEE Washington, DC VERNON McKAY* School of Advanced International Studies The Johns Hopkins University Washington, DC JAMES McKEE Harriman Scholar Columbia University THOMAS H. McKITTRICK President America-Italy Society New York MALCOLM MUIR President Newsweek Magazine New York PAUL H. NITZE President Foreign Service Educational Foundation Washington, DC RICHARD PETEREC Harriman Scholar Columbia University C. BROOKS PETERS Nichols & Peters New York ALVA W. PHELPS Chair and President The Oliver Corporation Chicago ALAN J. PIFER Carnegie Corporation of New York NELSON P. POYNTER Editor and Publisher St. Petersburg Times Florida ARNOLD RIVKIN Director, Africa Project Center of International Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology EDWARD V. ROBERTS Deputy Assistant Director United States Information Agency Washington, DC MARY CRAIG SCHULLER Toronto LEO N. SHAW Senior Vice President First National City Bank of New York ELLIS D. SLATER New York RUTH SLOAN Executive Director Ruth Sloan Associates Washington, DC E. CLARK STILLMAN Secretary Belgian-American Educational Foundation New York STUART H. VAN DYKE Regional Director Office of European and African Operations International Cooperation Administration Washington, DC ALFRED C. WOLF The Ford Foundation New York

Legend
*     Discussion Leader +     Rapporteur