American Attitudes Toward Decolonization in Africa

Many writers consider U.S. policy toward decolonization, at least under John F. Kennedy, as an extension of Americans’ traditional support for self-determination, and argue that without judicious prompting from the U.S., Europe would have dragged out the decolonization process for the rest of the century. ¹ Radical and Third World authors, on the other hand, claim that in those very rare instances in which U.S. foreign policy was conducive to decolonization, it simply fostered the transition from formal control under European masters to informal control under the aegis of American corporations. ² What little real change occurred, this group argues, was the result of protest and rebellion on the part of the Africans. These conflicting interpretations and 448disagreements leave the essential questions concerning the American role in decolonization unanswered.