At the White House, a former Pentagon Africa counter-terrorism director has been chosen as senior Africa policy aide, continuing the president's choice of career military officers for key foreign policy posts. Atallah, the presumed Africa director choice at the White House, retired from the Air Force in 2009 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. (Sisi is scheduled to visit the White House on April 3.) For that reason, he concludes that "clear early signaling from the White House about the strategic importance of Africa for U.S. interests is critical." Based on the White House budget outline released this month, the sharpest shifts on Africa policy will be on the 'soft' power side.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 01, 2017 16:30 UTC