As the Cold War wound down in 1989, Africa was awash in civil wars. Appointed Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President George Bush, Ambassador Hank Cohen initiated an aggressive policy of diplomatic intervention in African conflicts, using the prestige and credibility of the world's only superpower to search for peace. Cohen details his own and others' efforts in seven civil wars, with results ranging from heady triumph in Mozambique to utter disappointment in Angola. At every stage, deadly power struggles and bureaucratic and political infighting raised formidable obstacles.
Cohen skilfully integrated his Africa conflict resolution policy with his government's priority objectives of US-Soviet cooperation and the fight against world hunger. With civil wars still raging in Africa, Cohen's experiences as a diplomatic practitioner of conflict resolution and the complex lessons he learned in the trenches remain as relevant as ever.
Published in association with the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Series
'I knew Hank Cohen best when he was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs - and a superb Assistant Secretary he was. He had a profound understanding of Africa, with all its variety, promise, and problems. This book desmonstates that he has lost none of his skill or wisdom. It demonstates, as well, that he is a writer who can reduce complicated issues to understandable prose. This is a good book - worthy of study by scholars and amateurs alike.' - Lawsrence S. Eagleburger, former US Secretary of State
'Here are wisdom and insight (and adventure) from some of the best years of US Africa policy by the man who made it...[R]equired reading for anyone interested in knowing how foreign relations should be practiced and the difficulty of doing so, not just in Africa but anywhere in the world. Indeed it is required reading for the next administration and for an informed citizen constituency on African policy.' - Professor I. William Zartman, Director, African Studies and Conflict Management Programns, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
'This engrossing account of peacemaking in Africa during the immediate post-Cold War transition shows vividly what can be accomplished when US power and credibility are used skillfully by a seasoned professional like Hank Cohen. His seven detailed cases of African civil wars powerfully illustrate the high costs of timidity, tardiness, and obsessive concern with negotiating and getting signatures on peace deals - as well as the often indispensable role of good timing, good luck, and a top-level mandate. These cases highlight Cohen's style - direct, cards-on-the-table dealing, dispensing with procedural niceties, a pragmatic approach that includes all voices. In Intervening in Africa, Cohen reveals a reare candor among memoir writers in assessing the successes and failures of his period of service.' - Chester A. Crocker, Chairman, United States Institute of Peace, and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
The ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Series
Preface
Acknowledgements
Forging a New US Policy for Africa
Ethiopia: Ending a Thirty-Year War
Sudan: Total North-South Incompatibility
Angola: From Euphoria to Tragedy
Liberia: A Bold Plan Hijacked
Rwanda: Could We Have Prevented Genocide?
Mozambique: Pieces Falling into Place Nicely
Somalia: Better Late Than Never
Superpower in Africa: Mediator or Meddler?
Notes
Index
HERMAN J. COHEN, a retired United States ambassador and career diplomat, is President of Cohen and Woods International, strategic consultants to African governments and to multinational corporations doing business in Africa. He has contributed chapters in several books, including African Conflict Resolution: The U.S. Role in Peacemaking (edited by David R. Smock and Chester A. Crocker) and Out of Conflict: From War to Peace in Africa (edited by Gunnar M. Sarbo and Peter Vale.
Description
As the Cold War wound down in 1989, Africa was awash in civil wars. Appointed Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President George Bush, Ambassador Hank Cohen initiated an aggressive policy of diplomatic intervention in African conflicts, using the prestige and credibility of the world's only superpower to search for peace. Cohen details his own and others' efforts in seven civil wars, with results ranging from heady triumph in Mozambique to utter disappointment in Angola. At every stage, deadly power struggles and bureaucratic and political infighting raised formidable obstacles.
Cohen skilfully integrated his Africa conflict resolution policy with his government's priority objectives of US-Soviet cooperation and the fight against world hunger. With civil wars still raging in Africa, Cohen's experiences as a diplomatic practitioner of conflict resolution and the complex lessons he learned in the trenches remain as relevant as ever.
Published in association with the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Series
Reviews
'I knew Hank Cohen best when he was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs - and a superb Assistant Secretary he was. He had a profound understanding of Africa, with all its variety, promise, and problems. This book desmonstates that he has lost none of his skill or wisdom. It demonstates, as well, that he is a writer who can reduce complicated issues to understandable prose. This is a good book - worthy of study by scholars and amateurs alike.' - Lawsrence S. Eagleburger, former US Secretary of State
'Here are wisdom and insight (and adventure) from some of the best years of US Africa policy by the man who made it...[R]equired reading for anyone interested in knowing how foreign relations should be practiced and the difficulty of doing so, not just in Africa but anywhere in the world. Indeed it is required reading for the next administration and for an informed citizen constituency on African policy.' - Professor I. William Zartman, Director, African Studies and Conflict Management Programns, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
'This engrossing account of peacemaking in Africa during the immediate post-Cold War transition shows vividly what can be accomplished when US power and credibility are used skillfully by a seasoned professional like Hank Cohen. His seven detailed cases of African civil wars powerfully illustrate the high costs of timidity, tardiness, and obsessive concern with negotiating and getting signatures on peace deals - as well as the often indispensable role of good timing, good luck, and a top-level mandate. These cases highlight Cohen's style - direct, cards-on-the-table dealing, dispensing with procedural niceties, a pragmatic approach that includes all voices. In Intervening in Africa, Cohen reveals a reare candor among memoir writers in assessing the successes and failures of his period of service.' - Chester A. Crocker, Chairman, United States Institute of Peace, and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Contents
The ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Series
Preface
Acknowledgements
Forging a New US Policy for Africa
Ethiopia: Ending a Thirty-Year War
Sudan: Total North-South Incompatibility
Angola: From Euphoria to Tragedy
Liberia: A Bold Plan Hijacked
Rwanda: Could We Have Prevented Genocide?
Mozambique: Pieces Falling into Place Nicely
Somalia: Better Late Than Never
Superpower in Africa: Mediator or Meddler?
Notes
Index
Authors
HERMAN J. COHEN, a retired United States ambassador and career diplomat, is President of Cohen and Woods International, strategic consultants to African governments and to multinational corporations doing business in Africa. He has contributed chapters in several books, including African Conflict Resolution: The U.S. Role in Peacemaking (edited by David R. Smock and Chester A. Crocker) and Out of Conflict: From War to Peace in Africa (edited by Gunnar M. Sarbo and Peter Vale.
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