The Place of Cameroon in US Policy toward Central Africa after the Events of September 11 2001

2. The period after diplomatic relations

Diplomatic relations can only be established between independent states. Cameroon (French) proclaimed independence on January 1st 1960. This opened the way for proper Cameroon US relations to begin. In the same year, official relations were established between the US and Cameroon. Between 1960 and 1989, both countries had very good relations characterized by several states and working visits by Cameroonian authorities to the US during the mandates of Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan and Georges Bush. To that we should add that heads of missions were regularly accredited to Yaoundé and Washington. Apart from differences regarding covert US support for racists regimes in Africa,^98(*) the period between 1960 and 1989 as an age intense cooperation and good friendship.

Relations between the US and Cameroon from the 1960s were not special as such. The reasons are that the world was divided into two camps; the capitalist and the communist or the West and the East. The US led the Western camp in which Britain and France are key members. To reduce the burden of the `fight against communism', the US left less strategic zones such as Africa to her European allies. In this plan, CA lies under French influence.^99(*) In this way, French control and influence in Cameroon during the Cold War meant American presence and influence.^100(*)

During this same period, especially in the early 1960 when the government (Cameroon) was at war against UPC activists, the US was poised to support government actions. The reasons being that UPC leaders were pro-communists, especially after declaring intentions to resort to a Mao-type thug war against what they termed `French proxy'. In full expression of the domino theory, the US was therefore bound to support anti-communist, anti-UPC activities in Cameroon.^101(*)

Apart from strategic and geopolitical issues (high politics) which the US managed through France, all other domains of diplomatic relations (low politics) were managed traditionally, that is through embassies in both capitals. In this regard, and on an unofficial side, it is the Catholic Relief Services that opened assistance to Cameroon in late 1960 before finalizing cooperation by signing a convention with Cameroonian authorities in 1961. USAID opened an office in Cameroon in 1962 with the arrival of Peace Corps. Peace Corps' arrival in Cameroon just a year after its creation by President J.F. Kennedy showed US intentions to build a strong Cameroonian economy that will facilitate bilateral trade and prepare Cameroon to fight against communism. With the Cold War as a backdrop, President Kennedy had formed the Peace Corps to harness the idealism of America's youth and direct it outward to improving the world. Volunteers working with Peace Corps are expected to work on development projects such as health, education, teaching and other rural development projects related to the disadvantaged sector of the population. The USAID office remained in Cameroon until its closure in the 1990s.

The main actors in Cameroon US relations are the principal persons, ideas and paradigms that have shaped the nature of relations between the two countries. In this sense, it is important to identify the principal organs and agencies involved it managing relations, and well as figures that have been most important. US-Cameroon relations have been affected by concerns over human rights abuses and the slow pace of political and economic liberalization, as well as US budget realities. Though the USAID program was closed, some 135 Peace Corps volunteers continue to work successfully in agro-forestry, community development, education, and health. The United States Information Agency organizes and funds diverse cultural, educational, and information exchanges. It maintains a library in Yaoundé and helps to foster the development of Cameroon's independent press by providing information in a number of areas, including U.S. human rights and democratization policies.

DOD - department of defense

DOS - department of state

NSA - national security advisor

HR - House of Representatives

Figure 1. Source: author.

It is important to note that though the table does not reflect the general trend of relations between the two countries, it gives clues on three periods in Cameroon US relations: the period before 1990, 1990 to 2001, and 2001 to 2006. 2001 to 2006 has witnessed several bilateral treaties yet to be documented.

The table below recapitulates the formalization of Cameroon US relations through bilateral treaties and agreements.

Main treaties and agreements between the US and Cameroon
Treaty or agreement	Place of signing	Date of entry into force
Convention between the United States and France relating to the part of the Cameroons under French Mandate	Paris	June 3, 1924
United Kingdom: Rights in the Cameroons	London	July 8, 1926
Peace Corps Program	Yaoundé	September 10, 1962
Investment Guarantees	Washington	March 7, 1967
Livestock and Agriculture Development	Yaoundé	May 18, 1978
International Military Education and Training (IMET)	Yaoundé	June 19, 1980
Investment Treaty with Cameroon	Washington	June 2, 1986
Scientific and Technical Cooperation: Earth Sciences	Reston and Yaoundé	November 9, 1988
International Express Mail Agreement between the United States Postal Services and Postal Administration of Cameroon	Yaoundé and Washington	August 1, 1990
Employment	Washington	January 15, 1993
Cooperation in the Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the environment (Globe) Program	Yaoundé	November 6, 1998
Scientific and Technical cooperation in Earth Sciences	Yaoundé	October 10, 2001
Consolidation, Reduction and Rescheduling of certain Debts	Yaoundé	March 21, 2002
Open-Skies Agreement	Yaoundé	February 16, 2006

* ⁹⁸ What comes to mind here is former president Ahidjo's speech during the Lusaka Manifesto of 1969 where he condemned foreign powers support for South Africa and Rhodesia.

* ⁹⁹ This does not mean that there are no differences between the French and the Americans regarding French policies in general and African policies in particular. However, in spite of such differences, the US still referred to or concerted with France in French (but also Belgian Spanish and Portuguese) African affairs in some sort of `control by proxy'.

* ¹⁰⁰ However, it must be noted that in issues of vital interest to the US, especially relating to global balance of power and communist threats, the US would over-ride French views.

* ¹⁰¹ Truman expressed this theory clearly during the Korean War. "We are fighting in Korea," Truman proclaimed in fall 1952, "so we don't have to fight in Wichita, or in Chicago, or in New Orleans, or on San Francisco Bay." The world was then divided into two competing camps, drawing the Third World nations into its destructive wake as the domino theory took on new vigor. For details on this theory, see Thomas G. Patterson, J. Garry Clifford and Kenneth J. Hagan, American Foreign Relations: Volume 2: A History Since 1895, Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.