Summary

Since the demise of the Cold War, the United States has encountered numerous demands for intervention in Africa. Almost overnight new foreign policy challenges were introduced in northern and north-east Africa, reflecting the Gulf War, the greater security interests in the western Indian Ocean proximate to the ever-changing Middle East, the increasing instability along Africa's Mediterranean coastline, and the spread of political Islam. Sensing that its interventionist prospects would soon be overly taxed, the United States has embarked upon initiatives to empower Africans to settle their own disputes on a regional level, while strengthening their economic institutions in order to integrate the emerging successful economies in the global economic network.