Abstract
The US engagement in Africa after the cold war was rather half-hearted but the 9/11 attacks led to a renewed interest in the continent, as the US now fight a war of terror and wish to prevent failing African states from providing sanctuary to terrorist groups as well as to reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern oil. The US engagement in Africa is irregular and largely driven by the preoccupation of terrorism. The failure of the US intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s shaped the US-African policy for a long time. G. Bush Sr. launched the United Task Force which consisted of contingents from about 24 countries, and US troops took part in the United Nations Mission for Somalia. But following the death of 18 US rangers in an unsuccessful raid trying to capture General Mohamed Farah Aidid, US troops were withdrawn from Somalia.
