Sobukwe Odinga's Treachery and diplomacy: the shadow politics of US-Africa relations is a fascinating and perhaps overdue book that takes a long, hard look at how Washington has dealt with African allies since the end of World War II, including the years of the Cold War, and the period since.
It is a narrative that questions whether the US has truly held the upper hand in the relationship, or whether African leaders have been adept at pursuing their own interests. It is left open to debate whether those interests aligned with those of their peoples.
The author, an assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, focuses on the security relations between the US and four countries in particular: Ethiopia, Liberia, DR Congo (formerly Zaire) and Uganda. Washington's focus in Africa had long been on the challenge that the USSR posed until the end of the Cold War. Since then it has been the threat of terrorism following the 9/11 attacks.
Odinga writes in the language of an academic: for example he talks of "black moderate transnationalism, and statist Pan Africanism". A little perseverance with this does reap rewards.
Originally published by African Business.