International records / Foreign Relations of the United States

14. Memorandum of Conversation

fricanism”. Against this background, the efforts of the Western Powers to help the new developed areas to find themselves assumed a crucial urgency. Some great and imaginative steps forward had already been taken for example in the French community, Nigeria and the Belgian Congo. Change was inevitable and it was essential that it should take place in an orderly manner and in the closest cooperation with the Western powers. Europe and Africa were complementary, and the closest ties must be preserved after the colonial period had passed. Above all, the United States wished to avoid African natio…