The Place of Cameroon in US Policy toward Central Africa after the Events of September 11 2001

It also possesses an archetypical experience of indigenous state formation, of colonial conquest and administration, of the First World War, of the Mandate System, of Negritude, of Afro-Asian independence movements, of the Cold War, and of post-colonial society, economy and polity.138(*)

Cameroon could therefore be the gate way into learning about Africa and the world, especially to non-Africans. In all this diversity, we should note that Cameroon shares similar political, economic and social history with the US, in terms of independence struggle, colonization, non-aligned but pro-capitalist economy and First and Second World Wars anti-fascist/Nazi struggle.

3. Cameroon's resources

The CIA world fact book presents Cameroon in an attractive way; «Because of its oil resources and favorable agricultural conditions, Cameroon has one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa.»^139(*) This primary commodity economy turns around oil reserves, other natural resources such as water, iron ore, bauxite and nickel, and environmental possessions. We will examine these resources below in the light of US interests to discover how they have contributed to increase US involvement in the country since 9/11.

* ¹³⁸ Marc Gilbert, idem

* ¹³⁹ Last updated October 2006 at https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/cameroon.html .