JOHN J STREMLAU, Honorary Professor of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand AFRICAN scholars and policymakers face a tough challenge in analysing how the US presidential election on 3 November might affect Africa-US relations. This is because of the extreme polarisation of politics that has been growing for decades in the US. Simultaneous national crises have made matters worse. These suddenly erupted over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, its impact on the economy, and fresh evidence of white racism towards black Americans. In deeply divided America, four clusters of political political conflicts arise over issues of national identity, sustainable…