Introduction

The central theme of this chapter is to detail the history of the United States' political and economic interests in West Africa after World War II. The United States was interested in political matters (including nationalist movements, political reforms, and decolonization); and the type of economic policy and development carried out by the colonial powers. Simply put, it consciously monitored the way colonial officials handled nationalist demands, colonial reforms, and the type of economic developmental plans put in place. This chapter reinvestigates the genesis of U.S. interests in West Africa; it reinterprets U.S. activities during the post–World War II period; and it presents a historical narrative of the Anglo-American entente during the colonial period (1945–60).

While the events that propelled the tactics of the Cold War are well documented, Africa's (indeed West Africa's) place in the scheme of the Western Allies' strategies is often misrepresented. While news of the strategies, tactics, and procedures regarding the Western powers' activities in colonial Africa did not make it to the front pages of leading newspapers or to the radio, official records indicate that Africa was never treated as a “backwater” in world affairs. This chapter argues that the focus of the United States' activities during the period under discussion was based on its Cold War goals. It was informed by the growing radicalism within Africa, international Communist activities, the role of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the prevalence of Communist propagandist newsletters, the provision of funds and support by the Eastern bloc, and the presence of leftist nationalists and their sympathizers.