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THE "NIXON DOCTRINE" AND AFRICA

J. K. OBATALA

SHORTLY after President Richard Nixon came to office in 1968, he enunciated what was to become the "Nixon Doctrine."  The essence of the Nixon Doctrine, as explained by Earl C. Ravenal in the influential quarterly Foreign Affairs, is that, among other things, it embraces the Nixon administration's hope for "reducing the forces we maintain for Asian defense and avoiding involvement in conflict."¹  In actuality, however, the so-called Nixon Doctrine is little more than an ideological reflection of the political and military fact that the cutting edge of U.S. imperialism in Asia is being blunted by the heroic resistance of the Asian people and the rise of two potential super powers, China and Japan.
  The impending defeat of U.S. imperialism in Asia, together with the intensification of the anti-imperialist struggle in other parts of the world will most assuredly have momentous consequences for the socialist movement in Africa.  Markets for American goods, sources of raw materials for its factories and trade concessions for its multinational firms will inevitably decrease in Asia.  At the same time, the rise of Chilean Marxism, the devastating effectiveness and rapid spread of Tupamaro resistance in Uruguay and the emergence of Brazil as a fascist superstate will have a similar effect upon the course of U.S. imperialism in Latin America.
  A predictable result of these developments is the expansion of American interests and the intensification of its activities in Africa: Africa being the only continent remaining where there exists no power or potential power capable either of deflecting the onthrust of U.S. imperialism by giving aid to resistance movements or of mitigating its effects by posing as a potentially hostile competitor.  Nigeria, Congo
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¹Earl C. Ravenal, "The Nixon Doctrine and Our Asian Commitments," Foreign Affairs, January, 1971.
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J. K. Obatala is a candidate for Ph.D. in History at UCLA and is an Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal-State, Los Angeles.  He lived in West Africa in 1969-1970 for 14 months as a research student, and has written previously for FREEDOMWAYS and other publications.

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