Red Emma’s

To outsiders, the word “Africa” often conjures up images of a continent in crisis, riddled with war and corruption, imploding from disease and starvation.  Africans are regularly blamed for their plight.  My book challenges such popular myths.  Many of the predicaments that plague the continent today are not solely the result of African decisions, but also the consequence of foreign intrusion into African affairs. During the Cold War and its aftermath, dictators, warlords, and insurgents supported by outside powers manipulated local ethnic, political, and religious tensions for their own ends.  When strongmen were overthrown or cut adrift, other opportunists, including international terrorist networks, filled the power vacuums. Focusing on foreign political and military intervention in Africa during the quarter century after the Cold War (1991–2017), the book explores the motives for foreign political and military interventions, the rationales used to justify those interventions, and their consequences.  Special attention is paid to the role of the United States from the Bill Clinton administration through the first year of the Trump administration.Elizabeth Schmidt is a Professor Emeritus of history at Loyola University Maryland.  She received her Ph.D. in African history, masters degrees in African history and in comparative world history, and Certificate in African Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Imani Countess has worked with US-based Africa advocacy, development and social justice organizations for 30 years.