Africa Notes: Competition and Cooperation In the Indian Ocean - August 1993

During the cold war, the one emphasis in news coverage and even the scholarly literature about the independent island nations of the southwestern Indian Ocean-the Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles, and Mauritius-was the ups-and-downs of superpower competition.

The supposed pro-Soviet slant of Seychelles and Madagascar raised concerns in some Western circles that seem excessive in retrospect. Countless books and articles condemned or extolled the U.S. base on Diego Garcia. And the 1982 election in Mauritius drew more attention for having brought a somewhat left-wing government to power than for its role in a democratic and nonviolent transfer of power. Now these strategic concerns have all but disappeared. The modest Soviet presence has faded, while the United States continues a low-key involvement with the four countries.

Larry W. Bowman