With Wikileaks releasing a respectable amount of dimplomatic intelligence recently, we are able to take a closer look at the relations of countries with which we actually maintain diplomatic ties unlike in the more publicised foreign policy towards iran and north korea.
Kenya is an example of this. An African country that has been more or less stable and has maintained power in the region, it has interesting concern in US foriegn policy. Before reading some of these links i knew only that kenya was home to lions, giraffes, hippos, and an effective AIDS programme. Kenya is also a nation with a share of questionable dealings and corruption. Here are some of the diplomatic cables wikileaks released from the american ambassador to kenya:
http://213.251.145.96/cable/2010/01/10NAIROBI59.html
http://213.251.145.96/cable/2008/10/08NAIROBI2290.html
http://213.251.145.96/cable/2010/02/10NAIROBI181.html
Some of the US’s foreign policy objectives are obvious here. First is the US interest in principles; fight against corruption, and the “culture of impunity” obvious in the Kenyan government. The US has its concerns also with Kenya’s democratic process. Second are US interests in Peace; Sudan has been supplying the Southern Sudanese with arms to fight the oppressive Sudanese government. This has changed however, given that the Sudanese government in the north has more recently decided to allow Southern Sudan to secede. The US was opposed to Kenya’s exporting of arms and its support of the liberation front, mainly because of the possibility for a breakdown of peace to occur. Finally the US is concerned with Power in the Chinese presence in Kenya. The Chinese have been supplying arms and intelligence to Kenya via a corrupt official, and the US is wary of this, and would like it to stop.
bklunk
professorbek
chrisbenton
rs
ldevalle
songl
ashwilscam
htanous
jkim18
MachiavelliWasRight
mujeebd
joannegallegos
angeraa
jturner6
I feel like we are paying a bit too much attention towards all of this wikilieak stuff and the U.S. intentions in the regions where it has not had a sound policy to follow. If the U.S. is threatened the i believe it needs to create serious policy imperatives towards Africa. More than anything else it needs to practice some public diplomacy in the region and within the U.S. about these challenges.
mujeeb I feel that you summed up the point regarding a shift in US foreign policy imperatives in Africa accurately. However, I disagree in your statement that we should shift our focus away from wikieaks.
While I feel that wikileaks is an attack on US foreign policy goals and should be shut down, I feel that it is a rich resource that can be used especially in the field of foreign policy analysis.
ALthough there are not clear foreign policy objectives that the US is pursuing, there are obviously a number of heuristics that are used by those carrying out foreign policy abroad.