Abstract
During the cold war, Africa was probably the smallest concern of both the superpowers. The Afro-superpowers relationship has often been reduced to the sterile formula of African independence versus superpower imperialism. Actually, African leaders often had a certain freedom of action as they were not insignificant to the United States and the Soviet Union.
With the exception of the Horn, Africa was certainly not one of the most strategic and disputed regions of the World. In the second half of the 1970s, superpower interest in Africa grew, mainly because the Soviet Union was challenging the USA through the Third World, but never did they consider committing their own troops in Africa as they did in Afghanistan and Vietnam.
US-Africa relations were apart from the rest of the US-foreign policy as, from the Presidency of JFK, an Assistant Secretary of State was assigned special responsibility for Africa. In the Soviet Union, Afro-Soviet relations remained within the control of the foreign ministry but there really was little interest towards this relation. The Ogaden crisis in 1977 is probably the only time that Africa had a real impact on the superpowers' relations.
