AFRICA: THE RESHAPING OF A CONTINENT

A Political-Economic Conflict Seminar

September 3-5, 2008
September 9-11, 2009

Capitol Hill Club
Washington, DC

The second largest and second most-populous continent in the world, Africa presents a dizzying diversity of topography, climate, peoples and languages. And yet the continent's 52 countries have common problems, as well as specific interests and challenges that make Africa of particular interest to the United States.

Generally, when commentators refer to Africa, they mean Africa south of Sahara and tend to exclude northern Africa in discussions of the Middle East and the Mediterranean littoral. Although this seminar will also focus on the area south of Sahara, it cannot escape consideration of the Arab states to the north, for many of the quarrels in the south are linked to those states.

The presence of enormous energy, mineral and agricultural resources make several African states key components of the global economy. But Africa's political and economic weaknesses along with civil and regional strife can directly affect U.S. national security. A New York Times editorial stressed that issue when it noted: "Poverty and unemployment and the desperation they spawn leave young men vulnerable to the lure of terrorist organizations." In fact, the Times went to point out, some African countries have already become "incubators of international terrorism." Beyond this concern, The Commission for Africa, an initiative of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, declared that "the developed world has a moral duty-as well as a powerful motive of self-interest-to assist Africa."

If Africa has largely been ignored in the foreign and economic affairs of the major power in the past, it is clearly now on the international agenda. There has probably never been a better time to consider the challenges and promise of this area. Drawing from a range of expert commentators, government officials, and key participants, the seminar will include discussions of a number of the critical states in the area and such topics as:

SEMINAR TOPICS

• U.S. National Security Interests in Africa
• The Horn of Africa and the U.S. AFRICOM
• Genocidal Conflict, External Intervention and African Institutions
• Colonial and Cold War Legacies
• Governance and Corruption
• Failed States and the International Terror Threat
• Africa and the Politics of Globalization
• Global Demand and Resource Politics: Energy and Minerals
• The AIDS Crisis and Other Demographic Disasters
• The Growing Chinese Footprint in Africa
• Religious Resurgence: Christianity and Islam in a Changing Africa
• Darfur: The Massive and Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis
• Libya: Oil, Politics and U.S. National Interests
• Liberia after Charles Taylor
• Angola and the Politics of Oil
• Have Wars Over Commodities Replaced Wars of Ideology?
• The Criminal and Terrorist Networks of Sub-Sahel Region
• Kenya: Political Turmoil and Ethnic Violence
• Poverty, Trade and Sustainable Growth: Economic Interests in Africa

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The seminar will be held at the Capitol Hill Club, 300 First Street, SE, Washington, DC. Continental breakfast and registration will start at 7:30 a.m. The seminar will begin at 8:00 a.m. and conclude at approximately 4:00 p.m. each day. A luncheon workshop with speaker is included each day. An on-site coordinator will be provided to attend to workshop logistics.

No video, power point or audio-visual aids are utilized in the presentations. These programs are informal and strictly "off-the-record."