America in East Africa: Security Partnerships, Aid Dependence, and Diplomatic Leverage

<a href="https://embed.stanford.edu/iframe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpurl.stanford.edu%2Ftk619rk4215" class="su-underline">Show Content</a>

Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Why is the United States able to shape the actions of friendly nations? In this thesis, I offer an answer by examining American efforts to influence cases of invasion and the liberalization of domestic politics in Kenya and Uganda from 1989 to 2012. Drawing on academic, journalistic, and participant reporting on each case, including interviews with key American policymakers, I test three theoretical frameworks: balance of interests, dependence, and diplomatic strategy. Through these I attempt to explain American influence over the 1998 Ugandan and Rwandan invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 2011 Kenyan invasion of southern Somalia, the 1991 Kenyan reinstitution of multiparty politics, and the 2005 Ugandan abolition of presidential term limits and reinstitution of multiparty politics. The existing literature on these cases focuses on outcomes broadly, and on African states’ comparative ability to secure agency relative to the wishes of their donors. Taking the United States as my focus, in this comparative case study, I find consistent limits to America’s ability to shape the actions of Kenya and Uganda regarding their core interests; however, clear, sustained application of coercive diplomacy still altered outcomes — especially when it used the leverage offered by dependence. This thesis creates a model of American agency in maximizing leverage over aid-dependent states.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 2020

Author	Boston, Benjamin
Primary advisor	Weinstein, Jeremy
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation

Subject	Center for International Security and Cooperation
Subject	Kenya
Subject	Uganda
Subject	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Subject	Somalia
Subject	diplomacy
Subject	coercive diplomacy
Subject	balance of interests
Subject	dependence
Subject	liberalization
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/tk619rk4215

Use and reproduction: User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Boston, Benjamin. (2020). America in East Africa: Security Partnerships, Aid Dependence, and Diplomatic Leverage. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/tk619rk4215

Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies, Theses

Loading usage metrics...