President George W. Bush's five day trip to Africa between 8th and 12th July 2003 to as many nations - Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria Ð is the culmination of a much longer journey of US-Africa policy development for the Bush Administration.

When President Bush came to office in January 2001, he did so with an extremely limited foreign policy agenda. That agenda was based firmly on a conservative, inflexible view of US national interests and security in which national security was defined, with no apologies, as increasing US military power. Hazy concepts about promoting democracy, human rights and equity were not to obscure the agenda.

Followers of US-Africa policy had good reason to doubt that Africa would be relegated to little more than a tenuous position on President Bush's list of international priorities. During the second presidential campaign debate, when the then-candidate Bush was asked about US-Africa relations, the future president responded,

"there's got to be priorities." And Africa did not make his priority list of the Middle East, Europe, the Far East and the Americas. It appeared that the administration of President George W. Bush was destined to return US-Africa policy to the perspective of the Reagan-Bush senior years of regarding Africa as a social welfare case despite the subsequent heady inroads of the Clinton administration's impressive Africa policy.

President George W. Bush began his administration by promising to bolster old alliances and friendships. Yet, for the first few months of the administration, it seemed to be doing the opposite. Bush defied international consensus by abandoning the Kyoto protocol on global warming. His readiness to set aside the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and his reluctance to accept the restrictions of multilateral arms control agreements irritated many of America's friends. Not only was the Bush administration ready to set aside the ABM Treaty, it was intent as well on reviving the Reagan era "Star Wars" anti-ballistic missile system.

Becoming aware of widespread criticism for his lack of international experience, President Bush began playing a game of diplomatic catch-up. He began to dispatch envoys to international hot spots such as the Middle East and China's Hainan Island.

For Bush himself, his first international foray as President was to Mexico to cement already friendly ties with President Vincente Fox. His next jaunt into international diplomacy was in April 2001 to Quebec, Canada where he met with 33 leaders at the Summit of the Americas to promote the concept of a giant trade zone called the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The President's lackluster European journey in June 2001 to meet with regional leaders for discussions on EU and NATO matters did little to improve his foreign policy credentials, while his talks at the end of his trip with Russia's President Vladimir Putin were little more than a cordial encounter.

An encouraging incident for US-