Engaging Africa: Washington and the Fall of Portugal's Colonial Empire

by Witney W. Schneidman

Overview

Engaging Africa: Washington and the Fall of Portugal's Colonial Empire tells the story of how successive administrations—Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford—tried to maintain the confidence of their NATO ally, Portugal, while facilitating the process of decolonization in Angola and Mozambique. Ultimately becoming an epic battle of democracy versus dictatorship, African nationalism versus geo-strategic pre-eminence, and East versus West, this book, largely based on primary sources, tells the story of one of the Cold War's most intense confrontations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761828129
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	01/29/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.44(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

Witney W. Schneidman is President, Schneidman and Associates International, an Africa-focused, Washington, D.C. trade and investment consulting firm. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Clinton Administration.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Preface
Chapter 3 Map of Africa
Chapter 4 Kennedy and Salazar: Africa Versus the Azores
Chapter 5 Lyndon Johnson and Africa: The Right Policy for the Wrong Reasons
Chapter 6 Nixon, Caetano, and Spínola: Partners in Uncertainty
Chapter 7 Kissinger, Carlucci, and Portugal's Revolution
Chapter 8 Angola's Transition to Independence
Chapter 9 Conclusion
Chapter 10 Appendix
Chapter 11 List of Acronyms
Chapter 12 Endnotes
Chapter 13 Acknowledgments
Chapter 14 Index

Editorial Reviews

This excellent work reflects both its academic origins through extensive archival research and an insider view of policy changes and personality clashes. Summing Up: RECOMMENDED. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Choice Reviews - C.W. Hartwig

Engaging Africa is a compelling story. For those interested in the history of U.S. policy toward Africa, this book is essential reading.

Susan E. Rice

This is a superb diplomatic narrative of the competing national interests shaping U.S. policy towards Portugal and its colonial empire in Africa, when the 'winds of change' were blowing across the African continent. Schneidman provides a vivid description of the maneuverings behind the policy debates and colorful insights of the personalities involved during this important, often forgotten, moment in history.

Ambassador Paul Hare

Portugal's departure from Africa, and the role that the United States played in this process, is an extraordinarily important and tragic episode of the Cold War era. Drawing on voluminous declassified official documents, combined with interviews with virtually all of the principal policy makers of the era, Witney Schneidman has written an excellent diplomatic history on the making of U.S. policy toward Africa. He also tells a fascinating story.

Gerald J. Bender

Schneidman's book adds its weight to the developing argument and challenges historians to continue to delve more deeply into the problems in United States decolonization policy which have helped to shape the post-colonial world in which we live today.

H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online - Daniel Byrne

Portuguese Africa and Portugal is a dramatic story, unique in the annals of history. Witney Schneidman has rendered a great service by taking on a neglected tale and telling it extremely well.. .. The description of postrevolutionary Portugal is as accurate as any I have seen.

Frank C. Carlucci

This book, a must-read for anyone interested in decolonization or Cold War diplomacy, is the definitive diplomatic history of U.S.-Portuguese relations in the 1960s and 1970s, in the context of Portugal's 1974 revolution and the end of its African empire.

Foreign Affairs - Nicholas Van De Walle

This is the best study of U.S. relations with Portugal and Portuguese Africa from Kennedy through Ford, the difficult years when U.S. policymakers had to decide how best to respond to Lisbon's efforts to retain the Portuguese empire in Africa.

Piero Gleijeses

Engaging Africa is a compelling story. For those interested in the history of U.S. policy toward Africa, this book is essential reading.

Portugal's departure from Africa, and the role that the United States played in this process, is an extraordinarily important and tragic episode of the Cold War era. Drawing on voluminous declassified official documents, combined with interviews with virtually all of the principal policy makers of the era, Witney Schneidman has written an excellent diplomatic history on the making of U.S. policy toward Africa. He also tells a fascinating story.

Portuguese Africa and Portugal is a dramatic story, unique in the annals of history. Witney Schneidman has rendered a great service by taking on a neglected tale and telling it extremely well. . . . The description of postrevolutionary Portugal is as accurate as any I have seen.

Schneidman's book adds its weight to the developing argument and challenges historians to continue to delve more deeply into the problems in United States decolonization policy which have helped to shape the post-colonial world in which we live today.

This book, a must-read for anyone interested in decolonization or Cold War diplomacy, is the definitive diplomatic history of U.S.-Portuguese relations in the 1960s and 1970s, in the context of Portugal's 1974 revolution and the end of its African empire.

This excellent work reflects both its academic origins through extensive archival research and an insider view of policy changes and personality clashes. Summing Up: RECOMMENDED. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

This is a superb diplomatic narrative of the competing national interests shaping U.S. policy towards Portugal and its colonial empire in Africa, when the 'winds of change' were blowing across the African continent. Schneidman provides a vivid description of the maneuverings behind the policy debates and colorful insights of the personalities involved during this important, often forgotten, moment in history.

This is the best study of U.S. relations with Portugal and Portuguese Africa from Kennedy through Ford, the difficult years when U.S. policymakers had to decide how best to respond to Lisbon's efforts to retain the Portuguese empire in Africa.

From the Publisher

This excellent work reflects both its academic origins through extensive archival research and an insider view of policy changes and personality clashes. Summing Up: RECOMMENDED. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
— C.W. Hartwig, Arkansas State University

Choice

Schneidman's book adds its weight to the developing argument and challenges historians to continue to delve more deeply into the problems in United States decolonization policy which have helped to shape the post-colonial world in which we live today.
— Daniel Byrne, University of Evansville

H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

This book, a must-read for anyone interested in decolonization or Cold War diplomacy, is the definitive diplomatic history of U.S.-Portuguese relations in the 1960s and 1970s, in the context of Portugal's 1974 revolution and the end of its African empire.
— Nicholas Van De Walle

Foreign Affairs

Schneidman's book adds its weight to the developing argument and challenges historians to continue to delve more deeply into the problems in United States decolonization policy which have helped to shape the post-colonial world in which we live today.
— Daniel Byrne, University of Evansville

H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

This excellent work reflects both its academic origins through extensive archival research and an insider view of policy changes and personality clashes. Summing Up: RECOMMENDED. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
— C.W. Hartwig, Arkansas State University

CHOICE