A.Yu. Urnov. American-African Relations and the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

A.Yu. Urnov. American-African Relations and the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
Resp. editor: Ph.D., senior researcher O.S. Kulkova
Moscow: IAfr RAS, 2021 .-- 228 p.
ISBN 978-5-91298-264-4

This work is a continuation of the author's study of US policy in Africa. The first two monographs are devoted to the period of B. Obama's presidency in 2009–2016, the third - to the reign of D. Trump in 2017–2019. The monographs were published by the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2015, 2017 and 2020.
In 2020, the election campaign in the United States took place in the context of an unprecedentedly deep division of society. The attempt by the Democratic Party to impeach D. Trump meant declaring war on him for political destruction. The administration's failure to adequately respond to the threat of a pandemic has generated widespread resentment across the country. The murder of African American J. Floyd by white policemen initiated the Black Lives Matters (BLM) mass movement, which acquired an anti-systemic and anti-white, essentially racist orientation.

In these conditions, foreign policy issues were relegated to the background. African problems during the election campaign did not occupy a noticeable place and were not the subject of heated discussions. The African factor was nevertheless present, most notably in the context of the struggle for the votes of African American voters. Most of them sympathized with Africa, and both parties sought to present their policies as pro-African.

The work consists of three parts. The first analyzes the policy guidelines of the Republican and Democratic parties concerning Africa, the statements of their leaders, the Administration's practical steps in the African direction, the reaction of African leaders and the public to the course of the election campaign and its results. The second examines the development of relations in an election year between the United States and ten African states, including Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Morocco. The third is devoted to the analysis of the positions and actions of the Biden Administration in the initial period of the formation of its relations with Africa (January – March 2021).