Equality, Non-Interference, and Sovereignty: President Ahmadou Ahidjo and the Making of Cameroon-U.S. Relations

Abstract

Scholars often dismiss the importance of local archives in the reconstruction of postcolonial African history, stating that they are superficial, unorganized, and unreliable. Amin challenges that notion and argues that those archives are central to the study of African diplomatic history. Based on extensive and previously unused documents, he argues that Cameroon’s Ahmadou Ahidjo leveraged his U.S. policy to develop his country and protect its sovereignty while maintaining a firm grip on power. This reappraisal of Ahidjo’s actions engages debates about the contours of U.S.-African foreign policy and the challenges new nations face as they navigate external relations.

Post Conflict Bakassi and Role of Cameroonian and Nigerian Military

“…The two countries had also been using the military to separately or jointly fight insurgences in their respective states. For example, Cameroon under Presidents Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya used the military to suppress Union de Populations Camerounaise (UPC) and Anglophone Cameroon secessionist attempts (Amin, 2021). Nigeria, on its part, used the military to suppress Biafran secessionist attempts (Amin, 2020).…”