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

3. What future for Cameroon US relations? Challenges of an emerging Central African country?

We need to understand what Cameroon stands to gain from greater cooperation with the US. However, there are several challenges facing Cameroon in this present state of matters. The first series of challenges have been treated above, but there are negative impacts, for which Cameroon must carter. One of the foremost challenges is the place the fight against terrorism should occupy in Cameroonian foreign policy. Cameroon will not afford to make the fight against terrorism a foreign policy priority. Though the US would put pressure in this direction, as it has been doing concerning the Iraq War (insisting that Cameroon should denounce terrorism there and declared its solidarity with Iraqi people), it will be unwise for Cameroonian authorities to go that far because of three reasons. Africa and the United States are both integral to the new international order. They have developed an interdependent relationship. They both need each other as markets, and the United States needs such critical African natural resources as petroleum and the continent's partnership in the fight against international terrorism. Africa needs US development assistance in all areas, its technological know-how, and its technological assets.^310(*) The first is that Cameroon's foreign policy priorities are the fight against diseases and poverty. The fight against terrorism, important as it is, cannot constitute policy priorities because terrorist threats are not as serious in Cameroon as in other countries.

On the other hands, Cameroon has relations with the Islamic world to manage. Not that the Islamic world is pro-terrorism, but that the conception, definition and operations of the term are conceived differently from the American perspective. Cameroon is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, enjoying good relations with a majority of those countries. Apart from that, too much insistence on the fight against terrorism, and aligning with the US could attract the fury of Islamic fundamentalists, which will be dangerous to Cameroonian security and image around the world. There is consequently a need to strike a balance between both interests and avoid the extremes.

The third reason, which has not only to do with the fight against terrorism, but the broad pro-Americanism in Cameroon's foreign policy, and noticeable from the Security Council debates over the Iraq war in 2003, is relations with France. Cameroon should lose mind of relations with France, a particularly difficult and jealous partner as far as the US is concerned. It is understandable in French parlance these days that France is not receiving the attention her reputation and status merits from a country like Cameroon.

* ³¹⁰ E.J. Keller