Overview

In his 38-year career as an American diplomat, the author experienced many encounters with African leaders, which he describes in this memoir. Following his youthful attraction to international service and early postings to Paris and the world of cultural exchange, he specialized in the emerging nations of Africa. He recounts growing a new embassy in Uganda, fighting white supremacy in Southern Rhodesia, the end of colonialism in Zambia, coping with chaos in Zaire, serving in Paris under Kissinger's scrutiny, and becoming ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia. Stateside assignments included the intelligence community, personnel management, the National Security Council under President Reagan, heading the Africa Bureau under President George H. W. Bush, followed by the World Bank's Global Coalition for Africa, and, in retirement, heading his own international consulting firm. Throughout, Cohen retained his special interest in the economics of developing nations, with a focus on U.S. relations with sub-Saharan Africa's economically underperforming postcolonial independent governments. Despite significant development assistance, poverty levels remained high, while private investments in business ventures remained low.

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"""Ambassador Cohen's extraordinarily frank memoir should be required reading for students, observers, and practitioners of diplomacy. He draws back the curtain to reveal the complexity of decision-making behind the stage, while shedding light on a basic issue: what kind of foreign policies best promote the American national interest, especially in Africa. It is also fun to read."" ---Dr. Bernard E. Brown, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, City University of New York (Graduate Center) ""Both experience and insight are keys to good professional memoirs. Hank Cohen dishes up large servings of these qualities with objectivity and sympathy. Though the title may indicate that Africans are the audience, others can benefit even more. Read it and learn."" ---Edward Marks, U.S. Ambassador (retired)"

Author Information

"HERMAN J. ""HANK"" COHEN, a 38-year Foreign Service officer who retired with the top rank of Career Ambassador, took a special interest in the economics of developing nations and specialized in U.S. relations with sub-Saharan Africa. Overseas posts included Paris, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Zaire, and, as ambassador, Senegal. At home he served as assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, the president's special assistant on Africa, deputy head of State's Intelligence and Research Bureau, World Bank senior adviser on Africa, president of Cohen and Woods international consulting firm, and adjunct professor at SAIS. He is the author of Intervening in Africa: Superpower Peacemaking in a Troubled Continent (2000), The Mind of the African Strongman: Conversations with Dictators, Statesmen, and Father Figures (2015), and U.S. Policy Toward Africa: Eight Decades of Realpolitik (2020)."

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