The Chinese “are kicking our tails everywhere” warned Tibor Nagy in a recent column published in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal newspaper in Texas. The former top U.S. diplomat for Africa called on the new Biden administration to do more to confront Beijing’s “unrestrained and aggressive tactics” on the continent.

Nagy’s comments come as both Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held press conferences last week where both castigated the other country, providing yet another indication of rapidly deteriorating relations between the two powers.

After more than 30 years in the State Department, including ambassadorial appointments in both Guinea and Ethiopia and then named in 2018 to be Assistant Secretary of State, Nagy is among America’s most experienced Africa-focused diplomats. He joins Eric & Cobus from Washington, D.C. to discuss what he thinks the U.S. needs to do to respond to China’s surging influence in Africa and why it’s so important that Washington take immediate action.

Show Notes:

• Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: America’s global power competition with China — from the trenches by Tibor Nagy
• The Washington Post: U.S.-China competition may be a win-win for Africa by Naunihal Singh, Josephine Appiah-Nyamekye Sanny and E. Gyimah-Boadi
• The Lowy Institute: In Africa, the U.S. Plays Catch up to China by Cornelia Tremann

About Tibor Nagy:

Tibor Nagy Jr. is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and a former American foreign service officer who served as the American ambassador to Guinea and to Ethiopia. As a child, he was forced to flee from Hungary and arrived in Washington DC in 1957, which became his home. After retiring from the Foreign Service, Nagy served as Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University, from which he graduated in 1972. He also received a master’s degree from the George Washington University in 1978.

Nagy was nominated to the position of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President Donald Trump on May 10, 2018. He testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 14 and was confirmed by a voice vote of the full Senate on June 28. Nagy assumed office on July 23, 2018. He was succeeded by Robert F. Godec.