Most of Schneidman's career has been related to business with Africa, and he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs in the Clinton administration. During the Cold War, he says, the US government was torn between its historic commitment to self-determination and its geostrategic preoccupation with containing the expansion of Communist influence in Africa. He shows how that played out in the case of Portugal and its African colonies Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)