Pan-Art Pedagogy. Theory & Practice Philology. Theory & Practice Manuscript

Archive of Scientific Articles

ISSUE:    Manuscript. 2025. Volume 18. Issue 2
COLLECTION:    General History

All issues

License Agreement on scientific materials use.

The role of the United States agency for international development in U.S. public diplomacy in West Africa

Anna Alexandrovna Krupina
All-Russian Foreign Trade Academy, Moscow; St. Petersburg State University


Submitted: April 10, 2025
Abstract. The aim of the research is to determine the role of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in implementing U.S. public diplomacy programs in West Africa. The article presents the evolution of USAID’s activities in West Africa using the examples of Ghana, Nigeria, and Mali. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that traditionally, American public diplomacy is studied through the prism of the activities of various institutions in East Africa; however, there are practically no studies in scientific circulation that analyze similar aspects of U.S. operations in West Africa. The study identified the specifics of applying U.S. public diplomacy mechanisms in West Africa, and also determined the role of decentralization programs in promoting democratic values and strengthening U.S. political influence in the countries of the region. The analysis showed how U.S. foreign policy adapts to the political realities of West Africa, striving to effectively engage with local authorities and civil society to achieve long-term strategic goals. The study found that USAID was most active from the early 2000s until its closure. The projects implemented by this structure were aimed at promoting American values in West African society. It was also found that the decentralization of government bodies in West African countries was used by the United States to strengthen influence in these territories. The concept of decentralization was promoted as a necessary element of “democratization”.
Key words and phrases:
публичная дипломатия
Западная Африка
программы развития
Агентство США по международному развитию
public diplomacy
West Africa
development programs
United States Agency for International Development
Reader Open the whole article in PDF format. Free PDF-files viewer can be downloaded here.
References:
  1. Долинский А. В. Дискурс о публичной дипломатии // Международные процессы. 2011. Т. 9. № 1.
  2. Мазов С. В. Распавшийся альянс: конголезский кризис и советско-ганские отношения, 1960-1961 // Новая и новейшая история. 2017. № 5.
  3. Майоров В. В. США и Африка: Экономическая «помощь» в стратегии неоколониализма. М.: Международные отношения, 1981.
  4. Немчинова Т. С. Проблема концептуального развития демократии в контексте четвертой волны демократизации // Вестник Русской христианской гуманитарной академии. 2012. Т. 13. № 4.
  5. Сиссоко Д., Ульянищев П. В. К вопросу о децентрализации в Республике Мали // Образование и право. 2018. № 7.
  6. Хантингтон С. Третья волна: демократизация на исходе XX века. М.: РОССПЭН, 2003.
  7. Цатурян С. А. Общественная дипломатия США в новом информационном столетии // США и Канада: экономика, политика, культура. 2010. № 8.
  8. Цветкова Н. А. Публичная дипломатия как инструмент идеологической и политической экспансии США в мире, 1914-2014 гг.: дисс. … д. ист. н. СПб., 2015.
  9. Шенин С. Ю. Генезис USAID: институциональные и идеологические истоки (1949-1961 гг.) // Вестник гуманитарного образования. 2019. № 3.
  10. Keohane R. O., Nye J. Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1977.
  11. McNeil B. U.S.-Nigerian Relations // Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.367
  12. Nye J. S. Public diplomacy and soft power // The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 2008. Vol. 616. No. 1.
All issues


© 2006-2025 GRAMOTA Publishing