Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will address a joint session of the U.S. Congress today. This historic honor, bestowed sparingly on international dignitaries, is a fitting tribute for Africa’s first democratically elected female president. But Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is not an anomaly.
2006 will help clarify whether the compassionate concern for the African continent, worn like a badge by western leaders last year, is a true determinant of Africa policy, or whether it merely masked other, more “strategic” and less “benevolent” impulses and interests.
When Condoleezza Rice traveled to Liberia to celebrate the inauguration of Africa’s first woman president Monday, it was an inspiring sign that women of African descent are reaching new levels of political leadership and recognition. Yet Liberia’s new president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, will need more than photo-ops with the America’s first female African-American secretary of State to lift her country out of the ruins of two decades of war. Dr. Rice and other US officials who traveled to the inauguration must bring a serious commitment to help jump-start Liberia’s economic recovery.
Fueled by media images of carnage and desperation, a debate has been begun regarding a possible U.S. role in Liberia, but so far it has been all troops or no troops, without adequate attention to the big picture. The initial response of the Bush administration has been to send a military assessment team, which received a warm reception from war-weary civilians.