Many governments in southern and eastern Africa, as well as the African Union, have refused to recognize the political legitimacy of Libya’s National Transitional Council. Western interventions in Libya, and previously in Ivory Coast, have confirmed to these longstanding regimes that the West will not desist from materially securing its political interests or comply with the incumbent interests in African states facing political upheaval. West African nations, on the other hand, are relatively confident in their current relations with the West. The United States has positive relations with Nigeria and Liberia, France maintains extensive diplomatic and commercial relations throughout West Africa, and Paris and Washington cooperate with West African governments on counterterrorism exercises. Western diplomatic support and a French and U.N. military intervention in Ivory Coast also enabled President Alassane Ouattara to assume power there earlier in 2011. Eventually, in the case of Libya, the southern and eastern African countries will have to recognize the new government, but cooperation with Western countries when political conflicts arise will be more circumspect.
