GASBARRI, FLAVIA. 2020. US FOREIGN POLICY AND THE END
OF THE COLD WAR IN AFRICA: ABRIDGE BETWEEN GLOBAL CONFLICT
AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER, 1988–1994. ABINGDON, OXON;
NEW YORK, NY: ROUTLEDGE.
Resea ch on he Cold Wa has been mo ing owa ds aglobal na a i e o he pas wo
decades and ha is why i is su p ising ha he end o his con lic in A ica has e-
cei ed only aminimal a en ion. D Fla ia Gasba i ies o ill hese gaps in he con-
empo a y his o iog aphy o he Cold Wa in he book “The Uni ed S a es and he end o
Cold Wa in A ica, AB idge be ween Global Con lic and he New Wo ld O de , 1988–1994”.
The book was published in 2020 and is based on he disse a ion p ojec o he same
name, hanks o which she comple ed he PhD a King’s College London in 2014. In
ecen yea s Gasba i has wo ked as aTeaching Fellow a he Depa men o Wa
S udies (KCL) and la e a he De ence S udies Depa men a he Join Se ices Com-
mand and S a College in Sh i enham. She ocuses he esea ch and expe ise on he
Uni ed S a es du ing and a e he end o he Cold Wa in A ica, wi h adeepe ocus
on sub-Saha an A ica and he Ho n o A ica.
In he e iewed wo k, he au ho does no ocus on he de elopmen o he A ican
con inen , bu she especially deals wi h he his o y o Ame ican engagemen du ing
he Cold Wa emphasising i s end a he u n o he 1980s and 1990s. The wo k i s
in o he now ich his o iog aphy dealing wi h he non-Eu opean dimension o he
con lic and ills he a o emen ioned gaps. In he in oduc ion, Gasba i p esen s he
basic heses, which she la e de elops and suppo s wi h an in e p e a ion o e en s
based la gely on Ame ican sou ces, in co esponding passages pa ly supplemen ed
by Cuban and So ie sou ces. I is he one-sidedness o he sou ces ha can be iden-
i ied as one o he weaknesses o he whole wo k, howe e i is an unde s andable
weakness since local A ican sou ces a e ei he non-exis en o e y di icul o ob-
ain. Gi en ha he wo k is an analysis o Ame ican o eign policy in he egion,
he absence o ala ge amoun o a chi al ma e ial om he o me So ie Union o
Eas e n Bloc coun ies is no amajo p oblem. Ye , hose would be a ele an addi-
ion o he comple e pic u e. The his o ical communi y howe e will p obably ha e o
wai o ab oade analysis co e ing he issue om bo h sides. The desc ip ion o he
e en s is p esen ed in a eadable, de ailed and clea manne , e en hough he whole
issue is e y complex and has ala ge numbe o ac o s in ol ed. The au ho was able
o achie e ha hanks o an app op ia e geog aphical amewo k— he book co e s
mainly he Ho n o A ica and Sou h-Wes A ica egions. Al hough a i s glance
hose egions migh seem like agmen ed a eas, D Gasba i demons a es in he
e y i s chap e ha he wo e i o ies, o a he he e en s aking place in hem,
we e closely ela ed om he US Cold Wa pe spec i e. The main ques ions answe ed
in he wo k a e he pe iodisa ion o he end o he Cold Wa in he egion, and he
Ame ican o eign policy ans o ma ion o ha ime in he ligh o he in e na ional
pa adigm change wi h he bipola i al y weakening and he shi o powe s’ coop-
e a ion.
In he i s chap e , Gasba i was able o achie e mainly wo hings— she se he
geog aphical amewo k and ga e an in oduc ion o he Ame ican Cold Wa engage-
men in he egions. I would be almos impossible o co e he whole sub-Saha an
oj ěch šimák
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104 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1–2/2021
A ica in a ela i ely sho book, so de ining ields o in e es is he i s s ep owa ds
success ul esea ch on such acomplex phenomenon. F om he US poin o iew, he
Cold Wa in sub-Saha an A ica began wi h he decolonisa ion, which lead o highe
le el o engagemen o bo h powe s in he egion. The i al y hen in ensi ied in he
mid-1970s wi h So ie Union and mo e impo an ly Cuba aking pa in he Angolan
ci il wa . This a med con lic jeopa dized he s abili y o he en i e egion and wo
main US allies in he egion we e di ec ly linked o he con lic — Mobu u’s Zai e
and apa heid Sou h A ica. A e 1977 and a e he Ogaden Wa s a ed, he Ho n
o A ica, o mo e p ecisely, E hiopia and Somalia, became he second c oss-cu en
and he second ield o in e es . In he nex chap e , Gasba i anspa en ly in o-
duces bo h con lic s om he A ican pe spec i e, bu mo e impo an ly she p esen s
con incing a gumen s o b oade Cold Wa pe spec i e app oach. Acco ding o he ,
he whole con lic was no in luenced only by a ms supplies and Cuban oops on
he ba le ield, bu also by dé en e and Ame ican public opinion, which in connec-
ion o human igh s mo emen a he end o he 1960s weakened US suppo o he
apa heid egime. Gasba i illus a es ha he Cold Wa and egional con lic s we e
indeed in e wo en, and hey in luenced one ano he . Tha is why she blames, among
o he hings, he Angolan and E hiopian-Somali con lic s, along wi h he So ie in-
asion o A ghanis an o pu ing an end o 1970s’dé en e, and hus she suppo s he
b oade hesis o he impo ance o he Thi d Wo ld pe iphe y o he de elopmen
o he in e na ional poli ics o powe s. The in e connec ion o egional con lic s and
he Cold Wa did no disappea e en in he 1980s, because, acco ding o Gasba i, he
USSR’s wi hd awal om A ica and he end o he con lic s in Angola and he Ogaden
we e impo an componen s o US policymake s’ nego ia ions wi h Go bache un il
he end o he decade, also due o he ea lie dé en e ailu e “shadow” caused by he
ques ion o in ol emen in con lic s in he pe iphe y.
Gasba i desc ibes 1988 as he beginning o he end o he Cold Wa in A ica. The
So ie Union clea ly began o wi hd aw om pe iphe al con lic s. Besides, he solu-
ion o pe iphe al con lic s mean apossibili y o deepening he coope a ion wi h
he USA and became an impo an pa o b oade Ame ican-So ie nego ia ions a
he u n o he 1980s and 1990s. The Uni ed S a es insis ed on h ee main issues in
he egion o Sou h A ica— end o he con lic in Angola, poli ical s abilisa ion o
Sou h A ica oge he wi h he end o apa heid, and esolu ion o an inc easingly
complex ela ionship wi h P esiden Mobu u o Zai e, who had s i ed con o e sy
by iola ing human igh s and economic des abilisa ion o his s a e. Howe e , Gas-
ba i claims, ha since 1991 he solu ion o hese issues had no been de e mined by
he Cold Wa in e es s, bu by e o s o c ea e anew ma ke o he US economy. The
issue o E hiopia and Somalia unde wen asimila “de-ideologiza ion” in he la e
1980s and ea ly 1990s. US and UN humani a ian aid du ing and a e he E hiopian
amine played amajo ole, as well as he end o mili a y con lic due o in e nal
p oblems o bo h E hiopia and Somalia. Acco ding o Gasba i, a e 1991 he egion
los i s s a egic impo ance o he Uni ed S a es and hus he USA did no in e -
ene o suppo he dic a o Siad Ba e. The USA ocused mo e on de elopmen o
democ acy and ee ma ke in E hiopia and la e on humani a ian aid in Somalia,
ins ead o keeping suppo ing he allied dic a o . Gasba i hus illus a es ha a
ha ime, he Cold Wa dimension had al eady disappea ed om US o eign policy
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OJTěCH šIMák 105
in he egion as well as in Sou h A ica, and by 1994 he “end o he Cold Wa ” had
come o i s end.
Gasba i’s book is alucid and a he eadable con ibu ion o he esea ch o he
Cold Wa global dimension, and especially he complex e a o ans o ma ion a
he end o he Wa , when he USA ound i sel in an unp eceden ed posi ion o he
wo ld’s supe powe wi hou an ob ious i al. The main hesis o he book is da ing
he end o he Cold Wa in A ica o he pe iod be ween 1988 and 1994. A ha ime he
diploma ic pa adigm ans o med and because o ha he Uni ed S a es had o adap
i s goals and me hods in he egion— he USA did no suppo dic a o s anymo e, as
hose we e no longe needed a e he Ma xis h ea had disappea ed, and on he
con a y he USA s a ed o suppo he de elopmen o democ acy and economy
eco e y in sub-Saha an coun ies. The second majo ou come o Gasba i’s esea ch
is he analysis o he US o eign policy ans o ma ion. The g ea me i o he whole
wo k is i s accessibili y and cla i y, e en o a eade who has no p o ound knowledge
o si ua ion in he sub-Saha an egion. Le us hus hope ha in he nea u u e we
will see asimila ly success ul analysis o So ie policy in he egion.
Voj ěch Šimák
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