Addressing the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on December 9, 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright dispelled all possible doubts about the centrality of the Great Lakes region for U.S. African policy. And she left no illusions about the seriousness of the obstacles ahead: “Africa matters, and right now no place matters more in Africa than the Great Lakes. Achieving lasting peace will be as difficult as implementing the Camp David Agreement and as complex as sustaining the Dayton accords.”