US policy and Portuguese Africa during the Nixon years

This study examines US policy toward Portuguese colonial rule in Africa during the Nixon period. US policy during this period is best known for supporting white supremacy in Africa, its hostility toward revolutionary nationalism and its benign neglect for black Africa. The administration, however, failed to deliver on its promises to support Portugal and stood passively as Portuguese colonialism imploded and Soviet-backed guerrillas came to power. Based exclusively on declassified sources, the study examines the interplay of policymakers, foreign policy management and the policy area to account for the disjunction between the administration’s stated intentions to bolster white rule in Africa and the actual conduct of US policy during the period.