African Activist Archive

Contents: Scholars of Africa vs. The CIA and The Department of Defense • The NSEP Program • The CIA, DoD, and Africa • Why Say No To NSEP Funding? • Public Statements vs. NSEP • What ACAS Stands For • Scholars of Africa since the 1970s have rejected any connections with national intelligence and military agencies. The hard-won protection of African studies from military and intelligence agencies' control and agendas is now threatened by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), formerly known as the "Boren Bill." NSEP funds scholarships for undergraduate students for study abroad, fellowships to U.S. students in graduate programs, and grants to institutions of higher education. Such funding is sorely needed, but the NSEP program was compromised at its inception when it was firmly lodged in the military and intelligence agencies. Scholars of Africa resist ties to U.S. intelligence agencies and the Pentagon because of the long history of Western interventions supporting repressive rulers and working against legitimate and elected leaders in Africa. For over thirty years, U.S. military and intelligence operations have: provided covert support to colonial and settler regimes from the white-minority regime in Southern Rhodesia, through the Portuguese colonial regimes in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau, to apartheid in South Africa; subverted progressive governments and national liberation movements from Patrice Lumumba to Kwame Nkrumah to Nelson Mandela; installed and/or supported dictators like Mobutu in Zaire, Idi Amin in Uganda, and Siad Barre in Somalia; and fomented civil war and conflicts through covert support for 'contra' factions such as UNITA in Angola and Renamo in Mozambique. The end of the Cold War has not diminished the inclination for covert intervention against popularly supported governments and movements. Founded in 1977, ACAS is a group of scholars and students of Africa dedicated to: formulating alternative analyses of Africa and U.S. government policy, developing networks between the peoples and scholars of Africa and the U.S., and mobilizing support in the U.S. on current issues related to Africa. The brochure includes excerpts of statements by the African Studies Association (ASA); Association of University Teachers, University of Zimbabwe; Presidents of-the African Studies Association (ASA), Latin American Studies Association, and Middle East Studies Association; and the South Asia Council. The brochure lists ACAS Executive and Board Members. The brochure mentions federal agencies, the Department of Defense, the Director of Central Intelligence, Jean Bertrand Aristide, Haiti, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

African Activist Archive

Open Scholarship or Covert Agendas? The Case Against NSEP Funding For the Study of Africa

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