As the United States and its allies attempt to steer a new diplomatic course in Africa amid intensifying geopolitical competition with China and Russia, the idea has steadily gained ground that the West should abandon its standard insistence on adherence to basic human rights from its potential partners. Advocates of this idea argue, first, that given the evident commitment of its adversaries to realpolitik, it would be foolhardy for the United States to take a stance that puts it at a disadvantage ab initio. Second, they point out that, even at the best of times, the U.S. commitment to human rights in Africa was never more than half-hearted and trumpeted only when it did not directly conflict with core American interests in the continent.
There is something to be said for this argument. In the first place, there is no disputing that the renewed readiness of China and Russia—never mind middle and regional powers like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar—to embrace amoral diplomacy presents the United States with a strategic dilemma in Africa. Changed geopolitics calls for a methodological and often philosophical overhaul. Nor is it untrue that the United States itself is far from innocent when it comes to the pursuit of diplomacy without morality. In many instances, human rights have emerged as a ruse, a convenient cover for the U.S. government to get its way under false pretenses.
Should the United States embrace an ethics-free African strategy? Would it gain greater freedom to respond to a changed geopolitical environment? Advocates of this approach—let’s call them pragmatists—appear to have been emboldened by the election of Donald Trump as the forty-seventh U.S. president. Pointing to Trump’s reputation for being “transactional,” not to mention his image as a “strongman,” they have urged the incoming administration to jettison human rights and “get real” in its dealings with the continent’s many autocrats—actual and aspiring. The diplomatic stakes in going toe-to-toe with adversaries are so high that to bring up the small matter of the human rights records of certain African leaders is to risk losing them to the other side. Don’t ask, and by all means, don’t tell, and access to untold diplomatic riches shall be yours.
Needless to say, President Trump should do no such thing. Here’s why.
To start with, the whole framing of the argument rests on dubious foundations. First is the assumption that human rights are a stumbling block to political progress in Africa. Second is the assumption that only Westerners want human rights in Africa.
Rather than an obstacle, human rights are a key and inalienable cornerstone of democratic progress in Africa—as they are in other parts of the world. Accordingly, insisting that African leaders respect the fundamental human rights of their citizens is imperative. Failing to do this will align Washington with the forces of reaction on the continent.
The assumption that only the United States and its Western allies need human rights in Africa is contradicted by the evidence that human rights are an urgent and ongoing concern across Africa. Whether in Kampala or Malabo or, more recently, across the Sahelian states where the military is staring down growing opposition, human rights activists continue to risk life and limb in defense of universal ideals.
The notion that the United States should desist from insisting on human rights as a condition for access to development assistance is not exactly new (the 1990s debate in African political science on the relation between democracy and development comes to mind here). Yet, it has been resurrected and repurposed by those who insist that democratic values and norms are not for everyone, and especially not for Africans. Apart from being wrongheaded, this “you just don’t get it, Africa is different” argument flies in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary, particularly the stiff resistance to despotic rule and the brave push for liberal reforms witnessed in an increasing number of African countries.
No one doubts that the United States faces a changed and challenging strategic environment in Africa. Nonetheless, for the above-stated reasons and more, Washington cannot afford to close its eyes to human rights violations in Africa. On the contrary, it must be an unrepentant advocate of the message that not only are human rights contributors to African development but also that they are a prerequisite for it.
Whether or not Washington gives its backing, human rights will continue to be important in and to Africa. President Trump should resist the temptation to place diplomatic expediency over principle. Instead, he should welcome and embrace the opportunity to throw down the gauntlet for the sake of Africans across the continent seeking liberation from sundry despotic regimes.
The future of Africa and U.S.-Africa relations depends on it.
Ebenezer Obadare is the Douglas Dillon senior fellow for Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a senior fellow at the New York University School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs, as well as a fellow at the University of South Africa’s Institute of Theology. He is the author of Pastoral Power, Clerical State: Pentecostalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Nigeria.
Image: Richard Juilliart / Shutterstock.com.
