A Study On The Historical Evolution Of Ameri Can Educational Assistance Policy To Africa

Since World War II,U.S.aid to African countries and regions has been for more than half century.Marked by the Truman Administration's "Fourth Point Plan",the United States officially started education assistance for Africa.With the adjustment of policy on U.S.aid to Africa,the content and form of education aid changed as well,mainly including U.S.economic and technological assistance.This paper reviews the historical evolution of the U.S.policy on education assistance for Africa,and divides it into four parts.The first part analyzes the U.S.policy on education assistance for Africa when it was initially established.In the early period of Africa's independence,as a major way of realizing the US global strategy in Africa,the U.S.policy on education assistance for Africa was practical and instrumental.It was closely related to the confrontation situation between the Soviet Union and the United States during the cold war,the interest to Afirca,the actual situation in Africa and the strength status of the United States.To a great extent,it depended on the degree of correlation between African countries and the United States Cold War strategy.With the idea of curbing the socialist expansion of the Soviet Union and influencing the development path choice of African countries,the U.S.policy on education assistance for Africa has been gradually concentrating in the field of higher education,moving towards standardization and institutionalization,also the scale of which has been expending.The second part analyzes the U.S.policy on education assistance for Africa in economic restructuring.In the 1980 s,African countries postponed their development because of high debts.Taking this opportunity,the United States,in conjunction with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,has launched conditional assistance to Africa on the condition of reforming the economic and political structure.With the idea of limited aid to ease conflicts and promote the establishment of a new political and economic order under the leadership of the United States,the United States has reduced its actual investment in African education assistance,shifted its focus to basic education and human resources training,but the inefficiency of education assistance has increased.The third part analyzes the U.S.policy on education assistance for Africa in the new century.With the deepening of economic globalization and multi-polarization in the world,the impact of the changes in the international environment on U.S.policy toward Africa has gradually increased.International problems such as terrorism,AIDS,transnational crime and so on have caused the United States to attach importance to aid to dangerous countries.The rising share of aid from China,France,Japan and other countries has also stimulated the innovation of aid ideas and methods.In the new century,U.S.aid to Africa is based on the idea of serving long-term interests and safeguarding national security.U.S.aid to African education deepens human rights diplomacy,attaches importance to basic education,especially girls' education,and promotes the development of partnership with Africa.The fourth part is a summary of the full text.