Such progress has been made in Colombia that it is hard to remember that only 20 years ago, the country was renowned not for its practical people or its wonderful cities and rainforests, but for its cocaine-fuelled murder rate.

This article examines the recent past and prospective developments (over a 2-3 year timeframe) for sub-Saharan African countries in three areas of major concern to American foreign-policy makers: peace and security, democracy and governance, and economic growth and development. Each topic area is discussed separately at the continental level to place sub-Saharan Africa in comparative perspective, at the regional level, and then at the country-level. Attention is given to recent, specific country incidences to establish possible trends.

The African development and governance picture is today highly differentiated with some countries developing successful democracies while riding a wave of growth, others facing outright institutional failure, and a great number in-between.