The crisis is the result of the Egyptian - Israeli war. Egypt sought to build a dam on the Nile. Egypt was buying weapons from the Soviet Union during this period, so they decided to withdraw the Egyptian assistance needed to complete the project. Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez Company, which was owned by Britain and France. The Suez Canal represented an essential route for international trade. The British saw the move as jeopardizing their interests.
Military action was soon devised to protect the British interests and gain control of the route. America has thwarted and condemned this action by the British and French because no one asked them anything. With their influence, they forced the British and French to withdraw. Following this, the US pledged to protect the interests of the Middle East from Soviet domination.
Generally speaking, it would be an association with "the European Union" that offers the brightest immediate future for many African countries, since this is a union of many countries with economic and moral interests in Africa, as opposed to just one.
