U.S.- Kenya Relations
Summary
The United States government and Kenya have forged a relationship that encapsulates foreign investment and foreign policy. Kenya has been an anchor state in the East African or sub-Sahara region and despite Kenya’s history of international terrorist attacks, particularly in the Kenya-Somali border, Kenya continues to remain resilient and a stable state.
Kenya receives foreign aid from donor countries like the U.S. to target economic instability and risk reduction intitatives for combating endemic diseases including HIV, malaria and famine. The country is also a host for many refugees from troubled nations like Somalia. Corruption and abuses of power within its infrastructure has increasingly challenged Kenya. Likewise, Kenya’s ethnic diversity has fueled grievances among the political process.
The democratic voting process has not been easy in Kenya. Voting on ethnic lines has been a common practice. During the 2007 presidency when Moi Kibaki ran against his opponent Odinga, there was a lot of political disturbance; Kenya experienced much violence and Kenyatta’s Vice President Ruto was tried in International Criminal Court (ICC) for their alleged involvement of crimes against humanity during the presidential race.
With the 2007 post-election violence, Kenya’s reputation was essentially tarnished and with the recent 2013 terrorist attack at the Westgate Mall in March, Kenya saw an economic downturn.
While Kenya was in political and economic turmoil, it was able to adopt a new constitution and have a legitimate presidential race. Kenya’s commitment to social reform has grabbed the attention of the United States and the Obama Administration continues to lend a helping hand.
Somalia and other Reg...
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...groups, the perspective initiatives in Kenya remain vulnerable. There has been considerable investment in the U.S.-Kenya relation and ongoing efforts to improve Kenya and sustain its regional leadership are important to the war against terror.
Kenya is nation that has built its ties with the United States based on diplomacy and trust. The U.S. has always harbored positive relations with Kenya. The Kenyan government would do well for itself to continue serving as an example to other nations in Africa by setting a higher standard to combating corruption amongst government officials, both local and national and to continue to make stronger efforts to build security infrastructures to fight terrorism. It appears the United States will continue to preserve their relationship with Kenya as the past decades show a joint effort to harbor positive foreign policy goals.
attacks of terrorist cells, such as al-Qaeda. The strategic location of the base in Djibouti, Africa
In a democratically elected government, like South Africa, the electoral system determines who will hold the political power within a country. Hence, the significance of a fair and representative election cannot be hyperbolized nor undercut. For Norris (1997), electoral systems are deemed as mechanisms which are determined via voter preferences, as seats being translated in the process of electing politicians into political power. Namely these systems vary in dimensions including constituency size, voter election structures, assembly size, and open/closed list systems. The majoritarian and proportional representation systems are the two most common electoral systems which decide how votes are translated into seats.
In Northern Kenya a small village of Sudanese refugees have made a makeshift village, which has served as their permanent housing for the past twenty years. This village displays the kind of poverty that is predictably featured in Time Magazine on a semi-regular basis: mud walls are adorned by straw roofs, ribs can be easily counted on shirtless bodies, flour is a resource precious enough to be rationed, and a formidable desert can be seen in all directions. What do you see when you look at this village? Do you see a primitive society, struggling to survive in a world that has long made struggling for survival antiquated, do you see the cost of western colonialism, do you see a people deprived of the dignity of humanity, do you just
While the United States has a long-standing foothold on the oil in Africa, China has been dominating the other natural resources available for the past 20 years (Bhorat 2013). Additionally, the current perception of President Obama in Kenya seems to have changed dramatically over the recent years. While much of the letdowns were due to high expectations on the Kenya’s population, the general consensus was that President Obama has not done much to help improve the current state of the Kenyan economy. The current programs in Africa are programs that were enacted or established by President's Clinton and George W. Bush (Mwangi 2013). This has allowed the Chinese government to move in and expand operations in the region.
In this section, I will provide a brief history of U.S. military involvement on the African continent, starting with the Barbary Wars and working up through the current date. This historical documentation will highlight the change in the role the United States has played in Africa [post 9-11???]. Prior to 9-11, the United States’ interactions were mainly [capture summary here]. Since [?], however, the continent has faced a marked increase in violent extremism and terrorism leading the United States to partner with many African nations in counterterrorism initiatives. These, and other initiatives, mean an increasing number U.S. service members are deploying to Africa to take part in training, humanitarian issues and military operations. These military activities are run by United States African Command, a recently created combatant command.
For my essay I will be evaluating the sub-saharan African country of Liberia. Over the course of this essay i shall try and shed some light on the main threats to peace and stability in the country. Threats that, if not treated responsibly and correctly, could throw Liberia, the Liberian people and potentially a large proportion of West Africa back into the violence and political instability that has plagued the region over the last few decades.
1990 Becoming Kenyans: Socio-economic transformation of the pastoral Maasai (Drylands research series), Acts Press, pp. 193-201
Jomo Kenyatta began his journey in the country of Kikuyu. When he was 10 years old he became gravly ill and had to have surgery. It was then that he was brought to the Church of Scotland mission and encountered Europeans for the first time (“Jomo Kenyatta”, Britannica). After being exposed to the Europeans, Kenyatta later ran away from home to become a student of the Church of Scotland mission. During this time, he studied the Bible, English, Math, and worked for a European settler to pay his tution. He later left the mission and moved to Nairobi where he would encounter his first affiliation with an African political protest movement, the East Africa Association (EAA), led by a fellow Kikuyu named Harry Thuku. Kenyatta empathized with the movement because it involved his people, the Kikuyu. One of the main goals of the EAA’s was to regain the land that had been taken by the Euorpeans when Kenya ...
“The sun never sets on the British Empire,” Great Britain often bragged. By 1914, about 85% of the earth’s surface was colonized by Europe. Between 1884 and 1885, The Berlin Conference took place to carve up the African continent (Background Essay). Europeans saw high potential in Africa and thought the continent was empty, even though it was not. It was roughly “untouched” and they thought they could do anything they wanted (Doc.1). Great Britain’s colonization in Kenya affected the country’s religion and culture, education, and government.
On attaining independence in 1963, the inaugural Kenya government identified poverty illiteracy, disease and unemployment as the most debilitating of challenges facing the country. Almost five decades later, despite numerous policy efforts, these challenges continue to enslave many Kenyans. The situation is even more debilitating when one is a youth. According to the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey , approximately 67 per cent of the unemployed in the country are youth.
In the year 1942, fellows of the Kikuyu, Meru, Kamba, and Embu tribes took an oath of unity and secrecy to fight for independence from British decree. The Mau Mau movement initiated with that oath and Kenya ventured on its relentless journey to National sovereignty. The Mau Mau movement was a militant African nationalist unit that resisted against the British authority and its colonial rule. The Mau Mau members were chiefly made up of Kenya’s largest tribe, Kikuyu. The Kikuyu conducted intense assaults against their colonial leaders. Between the years 1952 and 1956, the British overpowered the Mau Mau over a violent operation of military action. Nevertheless, the Mau Mau Rebellion also convinced the British that social, agrarian and political improvements were essential for Kenya’s future.
On the eastern coast of Africa lies a land full of sunny blue skies and large plains in which zebras and elephants roam. This land is the country of Kenya. Outside of Kenya’s cities and towns lies many samples of natures beauty. Unfortunately, the people living in this land are troubled by their struggle with the government and trying to form a democracy. Matthew Carotenuto stated, “Much of the world had historically viewed Kenya as an island of peace and economic potential in a roiling sea of stateless chaos.” What he means is that people have long seen Kenya as a peaceful place that is surrounded by countries suffering from all sorts of violence and unfortunate circumstances. What many people do not know is that Kenya has a long history for political violence going way back to when the country was colonized. Understanding that Kenya’s past violence was due to their struggle for social and political authority helps us understand some of their violence issues today. According to Maina Kiai, violence broke out after Kenya’s 2007 election. Many people had thought that Kenya was a more peaceful country compared to others in Africa because they were working towards a democracy. Currently Kenya is a republic (“Kenya” The World...). Another thing Kiai mentioned is that one of Kenya’s major political problems is that Kenya's constitution gives the president full power to elect anyone he wants into a political position for any salary he chooses. Scott Baldauf and Robert Crilly also explain how Kenya is trying to become a democracy but its political system is weak and allows the president too much power, making the nation a dictatorship in disguise. This leads to many ethical issues within the governments systems. We should care about Ken...
The main source of income for Kenya comes from agriculture. Coffee and tea are the most valuable crops. Together they account for approximately 50 per cent of all forigien exchange earnings. Because of the rapidly growing population, Kenya now imports large quantities of food, praticularly wheat. Unemployment is high. Expecally in the urban areas.
stability and peace in Burundi. The foreign policy of Burundi is to look for aid from
The history of Kenya is like other African countries because they had ivory that European countries wanted. In the 19th century, Christian missionaries arrived from Europe, the Berlin Conference divided Africa into spheres of influence, and in 1890 Kenya was declared a British protectorate. In 1893, coffee was introduced to Kenya. In the 1920 Kenya was declared a British colony but from 1952-1956 a state of emergency was declared in response to the Mau Mau rebellion against the British. After the rebellion, in 1963, Kenya gained their independence from Britain. A year later Kenya became a republic and Wilson Kipurgut wins the first Olympic medal for ...