Intervening in Africa : Superpower Peacemaking in a Troubled Continent PDF

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