KIGALI, RWANDA—Tens of thousands of Rwandans gathered at Amahoro National Stadium on August 11, 2024 to watch President Paul Kagame, whom they consider the hero that defeated the 1994 anti-Tutsi genocide, take his oath of office for his fourth term. Before Kagame spoke, Elite soldiers marched and maneuvered, the army band played, and the national ballet performed.
At least two dozen African heads of state or government attended the ceremony, including those from Angola, Botswana, Djibouti, Eswatini (Swaziland), Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Both the chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Council and the president of South Sudan also attended.
With so many African leaders in attendance, it should be natural for the United States to send a high-level delegation. After all, on December 15, 2022, President Joe Biden presided over the Africa summit in Washington, DC. “African voices, African leadership, African innovation all are critical to addressing the most pressing global challenges and to realizing the vision we all share: a world that is free, a world that is open, prosperous, and secure,” he declared. “Africa belongs at the table in every room — in every room where global challenges are being discussed and in every institution where discussions are taking place.” Just three weeks ago, Biden returned to the theme, claiming, “America is all in on Africa. This week—and in the weeks to come—let’s prove it.”
In such circumstances, it would seem a no-brainer to send a high-level official to the gathering. Biden may no longer have the stamina and Vice President Kamala Harris is busy campaigning, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken would be natural, or his deputy, if not Molly Phee, the assistant secretary of State for African Affairs. Samantha Power, who as USAID administrator is a cabinet-level officer and whose career began chiding policymakers for ignoring Rwanda as its genocide loomed, would also be natural. So whom did the United States send? John Armiger, the new deputy chief of mission who began his posting at the embassy less than a week ago.
A senior American official could not only hobnob with heads of state to advance American interests and engage in the informal conversations that so often set the stage for successful formal diplomacy, but he or she could also signal that the United States takes Africa seriously in the face of an unprecedented strategic challenge by China and Russia. Instead, Blinken did the opposite, and sent a no-name official who does not know more than a handful of Rwandan officials.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Blinken and Phee have dropped the ball.
On April 2, 2021, Niger celebrated its first (and last) democratic transfer of power as Mohamed Bazoum took his oath of office. Dozens of foreign dignitaries attended, including leaders from across the continent. Once again, the Biden administration deferred representation to the embassy.
Likewise, on February 15, 2021, the G5 Sahel leaders held a summit in N’Djamena, Chad. The heads of state of each country—Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger—attended. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke live by video conference, and remained engaged even after his speech concluded. Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov was also present on the sidelines, even if his presence officially went unacknowledged. As for the United States? Blinken sent a short prerecorded video in advance that was more pabulum than substantive and essentially plagiarized the stump statements of his predecessors.
Africa is the second most-populous continent. Its resources are vast, and its human potential even greater. China and Russia, France and the United Kingdom, Turkey and Iran each recognize this and scramble for influence. The Biden team continues to treat Africa as an afterthought, signaling to Africans across the continent that the United States feels entitled, takes them for granted, or simply does not care. So much for “diplomacy is back.”
It should be no secret why today China wins the scramble for Africa.
About the Author: Dr. Michael Rubin
Dr. Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in Iran, Turkey, and the broader Middle East. A former Pentagon official, Dr. Rubin has lived in post-revolution Iran, Yemen, and both pre- and postwar Iraq. He also spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. For more than a decade, he taught classes at sea about the Horn of Africa and Middle East conflicts, culture, and terrorism, to deployed US Navy and Marine units. Dr. Rubin is the author, coauthor, and coeditor of several books exploring diplomacy, Iranian history, Arab culture, Kurdish studies, and Shi’ite politics, including “Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East?” (AEI Press, 2019); “Kurdistan Rising” (AEI Press, 2016); “Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes” (Encounter Books, 2014); and “Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos” (Palgrave, 2005).
