May 7 – 3pm
by Judd Devermont, Director, Africa Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)
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What is the future of U.S. engagement in sub-Saharan Africa? CSIS Africa Program Director Judd Devermont will share his perspective on the defining factors of U.S. foreign policy in the region. He will cover the historical contours of U.S. policy, identifying points of continuity and change under the Biden Administration. Mr. Devermont will also discuss how a new division of responsibilities with global allies and regional powers can be envisioned and what the major lines of cooperation on the continent look like in the coming year. He will conclude with some thoughts on opportunities to strengthen ties between the United States and African partners.
Mr. Devermont served as the national intelligence officer for Africa from 2015 to 2018 & led the U.S. intelligence community’s analytic efforts on sub-Saharan African issues. From 2013 to 2015, he was the CIA’s senior political analyst on sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Devermont served as the National Security Council director for Somalia, Nigeria, the Sahel, and the African Union from 2011 to 2013, and contributed to the U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa, signed by President Obama in 2012, and in particular managed the process that resulted in U.S. recognition of the Somali government for the first time since 1991. Mr. Devermont worked at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria from 2008 to 2010.
Mr. Devermont is a lecturer at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs where he co-teaches a class on U.S. intelligence analysis on sub-Saharan Africa. He is also a senior adviser at Kupanda Capital, a pan-African investment platform, and at Fraym, a data analytics firm. Mr. Devermont is a frequent commentator in print, on radio, and on television, and he has testified before Congress. He has published articles in a range of journals, such as Foreign Affairs and African Affairs, as well as newspapers and magazines like Bloomberg, the Hill, Lawfare, and Mail & Guardian in South Africa. In addition, Mr. Devermont hosts Into Africa, a biweekly podcast series on African politics and policy. The views expressed in publications authored by Mr. Devermont do not represent those of the U.S. government. Mr. Devermont has lived in South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire, and he has traveled widely across the continent. He has a master’s degree in African studies from Yale University and bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles.
