Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
Analysis and Action on Policies Impacting Africa

Conference on Zimbabwe: Dare to Shape the Future (April 15-16, 2010)

The conference takes place at a time when there are major debates regarding U.S. policy towards Zimbabwe in light of the formation of the Inclusive Government. A key question of contention is whether the U.S. should continue with the Zimbabwe Economic and Democracy Recovery Act (of 2001) and the Executive Order of 2003, both of which impose targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe, or move to a new policy of support and engagement with the Inclusive Government. In the last few months there have been congressional initiatives to review current U.S. legislation on Zimbabwe and explore opportunities for a new U.S. policy with both the House and Senate holding hearings on Zimbabwe. As a sign of an already changing U.S. policy, there have been two high-level bi-partisan Congressional delegations to Zimbabwe in the last six months – a major policy shift given the fact that the U.S. had practically cut ties with Zimbabwe prior to the formation of the Inclusive Government.

Film Review: ‘Blood and Oil’

Middle Eastern oil resources have long been considered “a stupendous source of strategic power” by the United States, evidenced by a State Department memo from August 1945. According to progressive energy analyst Michael Klare in the new documentary Blood and Oil, the same oil resources are also a “source of weakness” for the US. Based on Michael Klare’s book of the same name, Blood and Oil examines the relationship between oil and US foreign policy. Serving as the film’s commentator, Klare sheds light on the importance of access and control of oil in presidential doctrines from FDR through the Bush administration. He argues that the control of the world’s energy resources has been foundational to US foreign policy since World War II. Blood and Oil demonstrates how US foreign policy and energy policy are essentially intertwined.

From The Geopolitics of Petroleum ACAS Blog Series

“Everything Must Change So That Everything Can Remain the Same”: Reflections on Obama’s Energy Plan

Is President Obama’s oil/energy policy going to be different from the Bush Administration’s? My immediate answer to this prophetic question will be philosophical: a firm “No” and a more hesitant “Yes.” The reason for this ambivalence is simple: the failure of the Bush Administration to radically change the oil industry in its neoliberal image has made a transition from an oil based energy regime inevitable and the Obama Administration is responding to this inevitability. Consequently, we are in the midst of an epochal shift so that an assessment of the political forces and debates of the past have to be revised and held with some circumspection.

From The Geopolitics of Petroleum ACAS Blog Series

Making Peace or Fueling War in Africa

At the end of President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony, civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery invoked the hope of a day “when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors.” No one expects such a utopian vision to materialize any time soon. But both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have spoken eloquently of the need to emphasize diplomacy over a narrow military agenda. In her confirmation hearing, Clinton stressed the need for “smart power,” perhaps inadvertently echoing Obama’s opposition to the invasion of Iraq as a “dumb war.” Even top U.S. military officials, such as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, have warned against overly militarizing U.S. foreign policy.