Kenya – U.S relations: a symbiosis of national interests, 1963 - 1991

Abstract

This study examines the nature of relations between kenya and the U S. The main thesis of the study is that despite persistent conflicts between the two states, cooperation has continued to exist. This inconsistency is the core of investigation on conflict and cooperation. Conflictive and cooperative interaction to various factors that affect the relationship. Economic interests which comprise trade,investrnent,s and aid, form one side of the tri-factor relationship. These factors are ana]ysed to demonstrates how Kenya and the U.S cooperate within a conflictive relationship .Apart from the economic factors, our concern is focused on Kenya's geopolitical location vis-a-vis U.S strategic interests. Kenya's air and naval facilities have had considerable a attraction to Pentagon, hence their acquisition in exchange for military and economic assistance was a vindication of a high degree of cooperation between the two states. Kenya’s security interests called for such assistance. The end of the cold war II ushered in a new era of democracy and human rights, into international politics. This new era, and its sudden penetration into Kenya-U.S relations has generated a lot of friction which has resulted into conflictive interaction between the two states. However these aspects of interaction have beneficial,economic,political and cultural implications. Simply, this study is anchored in the supremacy of convergence of national interests between Kenya and the U.S cultivates cooperative interaction while their divergence culminates in a conflictive interaction. It is due to this convergence and divergence of interests that Kenya-U.S relations are characterized by cooperation and conflict.