The United States must take the lead on making clean energy in Africa a priority for the international community and work with developing countries to help them leapfrog the oil dependence that holds advanced industrial economies hostage today. The 21st century will indisputably be characterized by global interdependence, shared risks, and shared benefits. There are millions of people in Africa with stunted economic horizons, without functioning school systems and hospitals, and frustrated by their governments spending money on oil instead of basic human services—problems that pose a threat to the interests of global security, the magnitude of which the United States and its allies have only just begun to appreciate.