Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa - by Andy Deroche (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa carefully examines US policy towards the southern African region between 1974, when Portugal granted independence to its colonies of Angola and Mozambique, and 1984, the last full year of the Reagan administration's Constructive Engagement approach. It focuses on the role of Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, the key facilitator of international diplomacy towards the dangerous neighborhood surrounding his nation. The main themes include the influence of race, national security, economics, and African agency on international relations during the height of the Cold War.

Andy DeRoche focuses on key issues such as the civil war in Angola, the fight against apartheid, the struggle for Namibia's independence, the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, and bilateral US/ Zambian relations. The approach is traditional diplomatic history based on archival research in Zambia and the USA as well as interviews with key players such as Kaunda, Mark Chona, Siteke Mwale, Vernon Mwaanga, Chester Crocker, and Frank Wisner. The result offers an important new insight into the nuances of US policy toward southern Africa during the hottest days of the Cold War.

Review Quotes

"...DeRoche makes good use of newly declassified documents and recent memoirs by former officials, offering impressive detail. ...[I]nsights and pithy observations on US and African leaders abound; the author portrays presidents Kennedy, Ford, and Carter sympathetically, others less so. DeRoche advances the ongoing revision of Zambia's post-independence history, still acknowledging Kaunda as nation builder but also revealing his shrewd practical politics. The book exposes Kaunda's authoritarian tendencies, especially after proclaiming one-party rule in 1972. Overall, a welcome, realistic view of an iconic figure who unflaggingly supported African liberation.
CHOICE

Andy DeRoche makes several important contributions with this thoroughly researched, vibrantly written study. These include establishing Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda as a prominent figure in international relations during the latter years of the Cold War, redefining Africa as an important player-and not a helpless pawn-in Cold War diplomacy, and strongly arguing that the issue of race continued to play an important, and often debilitating, role in U.S. diplomacy with Africa after the mid-1960s.
Michael L. Krenn, Appalachian State University, USA

This book provides a powerful insight into the relations of one African leader with a global superpower and in doing so reveals the importance of the interaction between African liberation and the Cold War. DeRoche brilliantly guides the reader through complex international negotiations with a steady hand and crystal clear prose. This study is an important new contribution to our understanding of Africa's place in global diplomatic history in the late twentieth century.
Miles Larmer, Oxford University, UK

About the Author

Andy DeRoche is a history instructor at Front Range Community College, USA. His previous publications include Andrew Young: Civil Rights Ambassador (2003) and Black, White and Chrome: The United States and Zimbabwe (2001).