BIBFRAME Work

Title

Africa, you have a friend in Washington

Other Titles (e.g. Variant)

American diplomat's adventures south of the Sahara

Type

• Text
• Monograph

Contribution

• Cohen, Herman J. (aut)

Subject

• United States. Department of State--Officials and employees (LCSH)
• United States--Foreign relations--Africa, Sub-Saharan--History--20th century (LCSH)
• Cohen, Herman J. (LCNAF)
• Diplomats--United States (LCSH)
• Africa, Sub-Saharan--Foreign relations--United States--History--20th century (LCSH)

Genre Form

• Biographies (LCGFT)
• Autobiographies (LCGFT)

Language

• English

Illustrative Content

• illustrations

Classification

LCC: E840.8.C63 A3 2023 (Assigner: dlc) (Status: used by assigner)

Content

• text

Supplementary content

• index

Summary

• In his 38-year career as an American diplomat, the author experienced many encounters with African leaders, which he describes in this memoir. Following his youthful attraction to international service and early postings to Paris and the world of cultural exchange, he specialized in the emerging nations of Africa. He recounts growing a new embassy in Uganda, fighting white supremacy in Southern Rhodesia, the end of colonialism in Zambia, coping with chaos in Zaire, serving in Paris under Kissinger's scrutiny, and becoming ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia. Stateside assignments included the intelligence community, personnel management, the National Security Council under President Reagan, heading the Africa Bureau under President George H. W. Bush, followed by the World Bank's Global Coalition for Africa, and, in retirement, heading his own international consulting firm. Throughout, Cohen retained his special interest in the economics of developing nations, with a focus on U.S. relations with sub-Saharan Africa's economically underperforming postcolonial independent governments. Despite significant development assistance, poverty levels remained high, while private investments in business ventures remained low.
• "A career diplomat specialized in African and European affairs, the author of this memoir highlights his experiences south of the Sahara, and looks back at the Foreign Service as an elite corps devoted to national security and national interests"-- Provided by publisher.

Authorized Access Point

Cohen, Herman J. Africa, you have a friend in Washington

Geographic Coverage

• Africa, Sub-Saharan
• United States

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11T20:13:12.047485+00:00
• Agent: cbc
• Status: c
• Derived from: 23039376

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11
• Cataloger id: Unknown
• Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
• Description language: eng
• Description authentication: pcc