From the barrel of a gun : the United States and the war against Zimbabwe, 1965-1980 / Gerald Horne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Horne, Gerald.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Racism--Political aspects.

History.

International relations.

United States--Foreign relations--Zimbabwe.

United States.

Zimbabwe--Foreign relations--United States.

Zimbabwe.

United States--Foreign relations--1945-1989.

Racism--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Racism.

Zimbabwe--Politics and government--1965-1979.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

389 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2001]

Summary:

In November 1965, Ian Smith's white minority government in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) made a unilateral declaration of independence, breaking with Great Britain. With a European population of a few hundred thousand dominating an African majority of several million, Rhodesia's racial structure echoed the apartheid of neighboring South Africa. Smith's declaration sparked an escalating guerrilla war that claimed thousands of lives.

Across the Atlantic, President Lyndon B. Johnson nervously watched events in Rhodesia, fearing that racial conflict abroad could inflame racial discord at home. Although Washington officially voiced concerns over human rights violations, an attitude of tolerance generally marked U.S. relations with the Rhodesian government: sanctions were imposed but not strictly enforced, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of American mercenaries joined white Rhodesia's side in battle with little to fear from U.S. laws. Despite such tacit U.S. support, Smith's regime fell in 1980, and the independent state of Zimbabwe was born.

The first comprehensive account of American involvement in the war against Zimbabwe, this compelling work also explores how our relationship with Rhodesia helped define interracial dynamics in the United States, and vice versa.

Contents:

I Preamble

Introduction: Rhodesia Retreats 3

1. Toward Zimbabwe 15

II Power

2. The White Atlantic 51

3. White (Cultural and Ideological) Power 93

III Policy

4. White House, Checkered Policy 133

5. The Business of War 169

IV People

6. Soldiers of Fortune 201

7. Africans and African Americans 241

Conclusion: Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United States 265.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [287]-362) and index.

ISBN:

0807825891

0807849030

OCLC:

43864396