Historical Dictionary of United States-Africa Relations

The image of Africa among Americans at the beginning of the 21st century is tragic; America’s image among Africans is of a place that is splendid but arrogant and unfeeling. Both have large elements of truth. Poverty, coups, corruption, pandemic disease, and tribal, racial, and religious violence are all too common in Africa. So too is Americans’ lack of concern about the people of a continent that suffers from these tragedies, as well as their government’s support for African governments that treat their people as prey instead of citizens. The Historical Dictionary of United States-Africa Relations encompasses the relationship between the two from the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the George W. Bush administration, with particular emphasis on the Cold War. It focuses on political and economic aspects of the relationship and includes cultural relations. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on key persons, places, events, institutions, and organizations.