Blinken’s ‘Stand-In’ Tour Underscores Waning Dynamic of U.S.—Africa Relationship

News Analysis YAOUNDE, Cameroon—A recent visit to Africa by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has once again laid bare the limits of Washington’s power and the waning dynamic of the U.S. relationship with African governments. During the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, President Joe Biden promised to visit Africa in 2023. But that visit never happened. Antony Blinken’s January 21-26 tour of four democracies on the Atlantic Coast—Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Angola—has thus been viewed as a “stand-in” for President Biden as security deteriorates in the Sahel and doubts grow about a key U.S. base in neighboring coup-hit Niger....