The era of the Vietnam Syndrome

Gerald Ford, who had inherited the presidency as a result of Richard Nixon’s resignation, was the first to attempt to address the communist presence in the Horn of Africa in the era of the Vietnam Syndrome. Jimmy Carter was elected president in a year that reflected the best and the worst that the United States could be, with the shadows of Vietnam and Watergate juxtaposed against the bicentennial celebrations. The growing closeness between Ethiopia and the Soviet bloc seemed to offer an ideal opportunity for the Carter administration to forge a closer relationship with Ethiopia’s neighbour, Somalia. Administration concerns over the increasing Soviet influence in Ethiopia, and its apparent desire to maintain a strong relationship with Somalia, were compounded by the increase in guerrilla activity in Eritrea. Rather than grasping the opportunity to usurp Soviet influence in the developing world, the over-riding concern seemed to be the possibility that the United States might be dragged into another proxy war.