Dr. Jason Johnson discusses the morale of the state department after Yovanonvitch has been removed. Other panel members are Carol Lee (NBC), Betsy Woodruff Swan (Daily Beast), Brendan Buck (), and host, Chuck Todd.
Professor of Political Science. Politics Editor for The Root. Latest Book: Political Consultants and Campaigns: One Day to Sell
Dr. Jason Johnson discusses the morale of the state department after Yovanonvitch has been removed. Other panel members are Carol Lee (NBC), Betsy Woodruff Swan (Daily Beast), Brendan Buck (), and host, Chuck Todd.
Dr. Jason Johnson discusses the firing of Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. Other panelists are Jonathan Alter (The Daily Beast), Caitlin Huey-Burns (Real Clear Politics), and host, Steve Kornacki.
All James Bond villains are alike. They’re almost always some 50-something smarmy white guy who has some weird personal tick (rubs a cat, a bloody eyeball, a fetish for blond Aryan men, something) and thinks he’s bigger than the government.
The point is that villains step in when decent elected governments fail, which is exactly what we’re seeing right now with corporate activity in Africa in the new Trump era.
George W. Bush’s administration, followed by President Barack Obama’s, improved American relations with Africa by leaps and bounds (as much as any former colonial power driven by global corporations can). More equitable business relationships were established, African leaders were invited to Washington, D.C., and generally engagement with the continent advanced beyond soliciting donations for starving children. Once Obama made it clear that the U.S. would treat Africa with more respect, corporations began to follow suit, leading to increased humanitarian efforts along with the profit motive. But under Trump, all of that advancement will pretty much come to a screeching halt.
The Trump administration has demonstrated an ineptness regarding foreign policy that would get you kicked out of a high school Model UN conference, with the president and his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, failing in even the most basic elements of protocol. Early signs indicate that the Trump administration sees Africa as a country (that delivered black immigrants for about 400 years) where foreign aid should be tied only to fighting terrorism or advancing U.S. business interests, not humanitarian aid or human rights.
To put this into perspective, the U.S. gives $3.1 billion a year in aid to Israel and $1.4 billion a year to Egypt, but only $8 billion a year spread among 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. So when Trump wants to cut aid to Africa but has no problem selling fighter planes to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, despite that country’s questionable human rights record (Obama had scrapped the deal), who will step into the humanitarian breach? Private corporations that are often up to no good.
Take Unilever, for example—a company that on paper is concerned with issues of sustainability, diversity and environmental justice across Africa. Yet when you peel away the surface, the company routinely gouges African satellite offices by doubling or tripling fees for the right to make Unilever products, overcharges for consumer goods and engages in transfer pricing to the continent.
Oil companies across the globe regularly portray themselves as saving Africa by handing out a few scholarships and providing hard hat photo ops with African businesspeople. Then they get down to the business of poisoning the local environment and creating wealth that seldom trickles down to the regular people. Coal, uranium and even some natural gas companies engage in similar tactics, sometimes resorting to fomenting war and ethnic fighting to ensure that profits are met. While foreign aid from the United Nations and the United States certainly doesn’t come without strings, those strings are much less likely to choke the average African citizen than the bait-and-switch offerings of global corporations.
While many African Americans have an “affinity” for Africa, there isn’t the kind of organized lobbying and passion for any one country there along the lines of Jewish Americans’ feelings toward Israel or Mexican Americans’ towards Mexico. Part of this is because of slavery and systemic racism in public education; most black American have no idea what their connections to Africa are. Even more insidiously, many don’t know what the significance of a healthy sub-Saharan African continent means to the well-being of black people in America. Consequently, we sit idly by jumping from hashtag to hashtag without realizing that the current administration is paving the way for more exploitation of one of the most open and hospitable environments for African-American entrepreneurship.
This article originally appeared online at The Root.
On Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, Morgan State University professor Jason Johnson discusses the issues of the day with Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post and Jeremy Peters of the New York Times.
On differences between Trump’s campaign rhetoric and his Cabinet nominees.
On Talladega College performing at President Trump’s Inauguration.
On CNN Newsroom, The Root Politics Editor Jason Johnson and USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page discuss Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as a potential nominee for Secretary of State.
Dr. Jason Johnson is a professor, political analyst and public speaker. Fresh, unflappable, objective, he is known for his ability to break down stories with wit and candor. Johnson is the author the book Political Consultants and Campaigns: One Day to Sell, a tenured professor in the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland and Politics Editor at TheRoot.com. Dr. Johnson has an extensive public speaking and media background ranging from … [Read More...] about About Jason Johnson