American Policy Towards Angola During The Period Of Angolan Civil War (1975-2002)

The mid-1960-s, Washington and Moscow had clearly recognized that the focus of the cold war in Africa had been shifted from the northern and central to the south in the continent. Angola is one of the Portuguese empire residual colonies, the anti-colonial struggle erupted from the early 1960s, and the civil war broke out in 1975 after the collapse of the Portuguese colony empire. Angolan civil war had attracted the attention of the United States and the Soviet union during the cold war. In order to strengthen competition in the third world, the two sides actively involved in Angolan civil war. And after that, South Africa, Cuba and other countries also joined in. In the end, the influence of Angolan civil war was beyond the scope of a country, it became the focus of international attention.Angola’s civil war began in 1975, and ended in 2002. During the 27 years, the war acrossed the cold war, had a profound impact on the world. The United States maintained a high attention to Angolan civil war, and always adjusted the policy of Angola according to the different international situation, and it included the policy changes from the later period of the cold war to the end of the cold war. At the same time, the United States policy to Angola during this period presented a process change of U.S. foreign policy to the third world.The article mainly explained the different policy of the United States during Angolan civil war and discussed the causes and the effects in order to reveal the American interest measurement change in the third world during the period of war. America’s foreign policy to Angola experienced many changes from 1960s to 2002, and it had a profound historical background behind these changes. The Measures of the U.S. government were different in different historical periods, how to weigh and realize its own interests is the starting point of American foreign policy. This article would try to analyze American Policy Towards Angola, and it might be reveal some rules of American foreign policy to the hot issues in the world, especially the third world.