Sapphire anniversary reflections on the study of United States foreign policy towards Africa

The creation in 1958 of a separate Bureau of African Affairs within the United States State Department served as a turning point in US foreign policy towards Africa, in that it signalled Africa's growing significance within the US policymaking establishment. This historical event has served as a point of reference for Africanists, as demonstrated by Crawford Young's (1984) ‘silver’ (25-year) anniversary reflections on the state of US Africa policies as president of the African Studies Association. The primary purpose of this essay is to provide ‘sapphire’ (45-year) anniversary reflections on US foreign policy towards Africa, by offering a select review of forty books that have been published on this topic during the last decade (1993–2002). It is important to note, however, that this essay does not provide a comprehensive review of all the books published since 1993, nor does it offer a comprehensive review of the literature published prior to that date. The intention is rather to illuminate trends in scholarship.

International Wheat Council

On July 6 and 7, 1948 a meeting was held in Washington to which were invited representatives of the 36 governments which had signed the International Wheat Agreement concluded there March 6, 1948. Representatives of the following countries informed the meeting that their governments had ratified the agreement and had deposited their formal instruments of acceptance with the United States State Department by the deadline of July 1: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Belgium, Cuba, Greece, the Netherlands, and Poland indicated that their legislatures had ratified and that formal instruments of acceptance would be deposited early that month. The representatives present discussed the possibilities of further ratifications, particularly the prospects of ratification by the United States Government, and decided that prospects of ratification during the 1948–49 crop-year were remote. Thereupon, representatives of some of the ratifying states gave notice that their governments withdrew from the agreement, because the guaranteed quantities of countries which had formally accepted it were insufficient to ensure its successful operation. A preparatory committee was appointed consisting of the representatives of Australia, the Benelux customs union, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States to keep under review prospects of concluding a new international wheat agreement. The United States was invited to convene the meeting as soon as it considered the time propitious to negotiate a new international agreement.