Nowhere is pressure on the United States to reimagine its foreign policy more acutely felt than in Africa. Initially caught off guard by the unexpected reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Washington has found itself in bad odor in several African countries. When its flag is not being casually incinerated by protesters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) early this year, it has to deal with the humiliation of eviction from military bases in countries—Chad and Niger, for instance—that it once saw as key counterinsurgency allies.

In one sense, the United States is a collateral victim, caught in the crossfire of anger and hostility directed toward the West specifically and nefarious foreigners and “colonizers” more broadly. At least in the Sahel region, whatever rage is aimed at the United States seems secondary to the fury reserved for France, the former colonial overlord widely—and not all that wrongly—accused of not minding its own business. Yet, in another sense, anti-American resentment is well-aimed, originating in longstanding grievances that the country is both imperious and neglectful, too inclined to make decisions independent of ethical considerations.

Washington’s predicament in Africa is further complicated by the fact that it appears to be losing ground to the geopolitical competition, especially Russia and China, both of which have managed to consolidate military and security alliances on the back of rising anti-Western sentiment. Since 2013, its famed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has seen Beijing committing billions of dollars in bilateral loans to big-ticket infrastructure projects, especially ports, railways, power plants, water projects, roads, and oil and gas pipelines across an estimated fifty-three out of fifty-four countries.

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