Aft: j . polit. sci. (1997), Vol. 2 No. 1. 184-186 
The Truman Administration and the Decolonization of Snh- 
Saharan African, by Macharia Munene. Nairobi University Press, 
Nairobi, Kenya 1995, x-242pp. [Paperback] ISBN 9966 846 37 9, 
KSHs.350. 
This book is the product of a doctoral theses presented to Ohio University, Athens, 
USA in 1985. It is an extensively researched and clearly written study with seven 
chapters. The book sets out to examine the contradictory ideals and practices of 
American policy towards Africa and Africa-Americans in general. 
The first two chapters examine American history prior to the Truman administration. 
During this period, slavery, racism and imperialism characterised Africa's 
relations with the rest of the capitalist world. American leaders consequently 
remained ambiguous in their policies towards Blacks in the Diaspora. Leaders like 
Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and James Monroe are noted for their racist 
views on slavery and civil rights for Blacks in America. Such racist trends are 
thought to have influenced America's attitudes towards Africa. 
However, Woodrow Wilson is depicted as one American leader who espoused 
an anti-imperialist stand. He believed that world peace was always undercut by 
conflicts emanating from colonial pursuits. Therefore by eradicating colonialism, 
world peace would be assured. Accordingly, he insisted on a global organization 
to oversee international peace. But the author does not critique Wilson's idealism 
in the context of the theoretical approaches available. 
Truman, after Roosevelt, inherited an African policy in which American 
politico-economic considerations tampered her anti-colonial ideas. Those 
considerations swung American policy practice and rhetoric from anti-colonialism 
to pro-colonialism. Thus whereas America's foreign policy aspirations were 
intended to promote pro-colonial interests, her economic needs demanded an anticolonial 
stand. Truman's policy therefore wavered between anti-imperialist rhetoric 
and pro-colonialism especially where American economic interests counted. US 
accommodation of European colonialism made it "vulnerable to charges of 
collusion with imperialism and insensitivity to colonial grievances"; and Russia 
capitalised on this to front a pro-African foreign policy. 
The cold war and Africa's place in the US foreign policy between 1947-1948 
'027-0353 © 1997 African Association of Political Science
Book Review 185 
are analysed in chapter four. No background information is provided for a 
contextualised and deeper understanding of the pre-1947 cold war jostling between 
the US, its allies and Russia. The author begins instantly noting the 1947 US policy 
shift from the earlier multilateralism and open door trade policy to a professed anti- 
Communist position. Without the relevant background, important events which 
would have informed this chapters are missed. 
Nevertheless, the author argues that Washington began to view Africa in terms 
of its defense needs and European economic recovery, the latter as a cold war 
necessity. European problems in turn became American problems as Truman 
"picked up the whiteman's burden ..." from the British and focused US policies 
on Russian communism. Russia countered this by demonstrating US involvement 
in colonial dealings and her failure to address racial problems at home. Such 
accusations disturbed Truman and influenced the Point IVProgramme which was 
intended to counteract Russian propaganda. 
Between the inauguration of Truman in 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean war 
in 1950, several forces influenced US policy options as contained in the Point IV 
Programme. There was an obvious US commitment to placating colonial powers 
for cold war reasons. This considerably watered down US' anti-imperialist 
rhetoric. Munene lucidly analyses the wheelings and dealings of US policy makers 
intended to stop European manipulations and Russian campaigns against her. 
Chapter five shows that economic factors mattered most in US political 
decisions. Imbued with sympathy for dependent areas, the US offered support only 
where her economic interests were not jeopardized. She also sought civil rights 
solutions at home and distanced herself from imperialist affairs. But this was shortlived 
given the rise of conservativism in American thought. The PointIVProgramme 
was branded as "probably the most mischievous document that had ever been 
published since Marx and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto 100 years ago". 
Indeed, the outbreak of the Korean war marked the end of US commitment to an 
anti-imperialist stand and Truman was back to square one in his attempt to identify 
with the colonized people. The Korean war impelled Washington to focus more 
importantly on issues of military re-armament, security and defense. This again 
rendered the US culpable on the colonial question: the US-Belgium disagreement 
over Congo, the largest African uranium producer is a good example. Congo was 
important because uranium is a key raw material in the manufacture of atomic 
bombs. 
Chapter 6 argues that by the 1950's the US had riverted to pro-imperialism. 
Although she attempted to placate anti-colonial nations like India, colonized 
nations used her duplicity to justify nationalism and embrace communism. Up to 
the end of the Truman era, the East-West conflict was the priority over colonialism. 
In a nutshell, Truman always lost the opportunity of winning anti-colonialists to his 
side.
186 Book Review 
Nonetheless, this is a valuable book. It shows that independence for most 
African countries was not planned; African countries jumped from the frying pan 
of European colonialism to the fire of American neo-colonialism. In this respect, 
it illustrates that any political decision by US policy makers depended largely on 
that country's economic interests. US policy towards Africa was therefore concerted 
essentially by the need to open the sterling area to the dollar. This study 
provides an important lesson in statecraft for students of diplomacy, political 
science, economics and history. The study however hangs in a theoretical void by 
being essentially empirical and avoiding controversial issues. 
Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya Godwin Rapando Muruga