Following are questions for the open discussion that the CIHA Blog is facilitating at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 2016. We invite you to add your own for now or the future:
- Military interventions in Africa: Trump vis-a-vis the increasing militarization in both West and East Africa — given his statement that he does not want to intervene, but his desire to increase U.S. military power, how would that play out?
- Human Rights: Given the above, and his statements regarding violating the Human Rights of Muslims, Latinos, African-Americans, women and others in the U.S., how would a Trump administration act on sexual, reproductive and other rights in Africa (if at all)?
- Religious leadership: Is religious leadership (Muslim, Christian, African religions, other?) in Africa divided about the Trump phenomenon, and if so, how?
- Trump vs. Religious leadership: Will a Trump administration work with African religious and other leaders to return to Bush-era policies on reproductive and sexual rights? Will it also increase the influence of evangelicals in Africa?
- Trump versus NGOs: Given his stated plan to harness, challenge, and sue the media, what should transnational NGOs’ roles be in monitoring the U.S. administration’s potential violations of freedom of the press?
- Election monitoring in 2018: The same question can be put regarding election monitors and other civil/human rights monitoring of votes, especially given the documented suppression of the African-American and Latino vote in the U.S. currently. And should official organizations such as the African Union monitor U.S. elections alongside NGOs? In other words, who is going to watch the self-appointed monitor of global democracy?
- Trump vs. African governments: Does the Trump victory embolden the most authoritarian governments on the continent?
- Democratic Role Models: Does this election, then, finally put to rest any notion of the U.S. as a democratic role model for Africa and elsewhere?
- Climate Change: What will be the effects on Africa if the U.S. under Trump pulls out of the Paris Agreement or refuses to meet the goals of the agreement?