ABSTRACT

Examining American foreign policy towards the Horn of Africa between 1945 and 1991, this book uses Ethiopia and Somalia as case studies to offer an evaluation of the decision-making process during the Cold War, and consider the impact that these decisions had upon subsequent developments both within the Horn of Africa and in the wider international context.

The decision-making process is studied, including the role of the president, the input of his advisers and lower level officials within agencies such as the State Department and National Security Council, and the parts played by Congress, bureaucracies, public opinion, and other actors within the international environment, especially the Soviet Union, Ethiopia and Somalia. Jackson examines the extent to which influences exerted by forces other than the president affected foreign policy, and provides the first comprehensive analysis of American foreign policy towards Ethiopia and Somalia throughout the Cold War.

This book offers a fresh perspective on issues such as globalism, regionalism, proxy wars, American aid programmes, anti-communism and human rights. It will be of great interest to students and academics in various fields, including American foreign policy, American Studies and Politics, the history of the Cold War, and the history of the Horn of Africa during the modern era.

chapter |9 pages

Introduction

Cold War battleground

chapter 1|28 pages

The coming of the Cold War

chapter 2|14 pages

The United Nations and the Horn of Africa

chapter 3|15 pages

Forging the ‘special relationship’

chapter 4|16 pages

Self-determination and the new frontier

chapter 5|16 pages

In the shadow of Vietnam

chapter 6|16 pages

Vital and peripheral interests

chapter 7|17 pages

Revolution in Ethiopia

chapter 8|17 pages

The era of the Vietnam Syndrome

chapter 9|18 pages

The Ogaden War and the demise of détente

chapter 10|20 pages

Realignment and Reagan

chapter 11|18 pages

The end of the Cold War

chapter 12|17 pages

Somalia – from colonialism to terrorism