In his inaugural address, Biden opened with a commitment to demonstrate “renewal and resolve.” His unflagging support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression has demonstrated an appetite for justice and the steely will to stand by his commitments. If he steers the formidable might of the American foreign policy apparatus toward achieving peace in South Sudan, he might well find that Africa’s nations will welcome America’s moral leadership.

If President Biden follows Pope Francis into South Sudan and achieves even limited success, he might find other African nations eager to hear what he has planned next. If he allows this opportunity to slip, however, he might find himself unpleasantly surprised by the geopolitical equivalent of a tsetse fly on his shoulder.

Anthony J. Tokarz is a banker, political consultant, and amateur historian from northern New Jersey. Additionally, Anthony occasionally moonlights as a policy consultant for the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE), a Brussels-based NGO that advocates for the rights of families and children in the European Union and at the Council of Europe. The views expressed in his writing are his own.

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