US – Africa Summit starting today

Today, African heads of states will gather in Washington D.C. to expand and widen interstate relationships through investment, trade, security, human rights, and democracy. Let’s get you up to speed:

• Check out the official website of the Summit detailing the program of events, side events, national statements and much more. Inter Action provides for another very comprehensive list of all side events at the Summit.
• The Council for Foreign Relations gives a neat overview of “What to expect of the US-Africa summit.” So does Reuters in its article ‘Late to the Party, Obama Seeks Bigger U.S. Africa Role.’
• National Security Advisor Susan Rice drew attention to Africa’s progress in the past two decades and its possibilities for economic growth, good governance and long-term stability, in a speech at the U.S. Institute of Peace on 30 July. Later, the Project Syndicate took a critical stance, considering the basis – and the limits – of the continent’s progress.
• In a short article published in late July, the Brookings Institute argues to pay particular attention on Congo during the Summit.
• Foreign Policy’s Jeffrey Smith asserted that the Summit “ will only succeed if the White House eschews autocrats in favor of a new generation of democratic champions.”
• Earlier, Gordon asked whether the Summit might actually do more harm than good.
• Also in Foreign Policy, Elias Croll proclaimed that the latest Ebola outbreak will unlikely feature heavily at the Summit.