Keyword: obama visits south africa

Calling Africa's Bluff: Obama's Using Aid to Subsidise Investment in Africa

Picture: American President Barack Obama and South African President Jacob Zuma at a press briefing in Pretoria courtesy GovernmentZA. Alexander O'Riordan - When the UK announced it would end aid to South Africa, many pundits and African leaders heralded the decision as an end to Africa’s dependency on aid. These African leaders and elites see aid as patronising, an indignity to be resisted, a charity not needed. This critique of aid complements critiques by post-colonial theorists that criticise aid as another form of imperialism. At the same time, since 2007, the financial crisis and protracted narrative of austerity have allowed Western...

Obama and the Militarisation of Africa

Picture: GovernmentZA/Flickr Video There is a hope that there can be leadership from the Obama administration to curb the militarization of its engagement with Africa. But on June 3, when the rest of the world came together to have initial signers for the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty - the Obama administration - the United States of America, was not among that group, argues, Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. Meanwhile America has also set up a drone base in...

Obama's Trip to South Africa and Chomsky on American Power

Picture: Noam Chomsky moments before delivering a keynote address at the Deutsche Welle Fazila Farouk - United States (US) President, Barack Obama’s trip to South Africa is a contentious issue that has animated media reporting and provided the necessary ammunition to fire up a debate that pits left against right. On the one hand, we have the South African Communist Party, Cosatu and some of its affiliates, as well as student and Muslim organisations demanding answers from the US president for a foreign policy agenda that keeps the world trapped in a state of paranoid fear, while on the...