Relationship dossier
Liberia
United States
Relationship assessment
Close ties shaped by U.S. postwar support and bilateral development cooperation, with friction over corruption-related sanctions.
Liberia toward United States
+45Liberia participated in bilateral development cooperation through the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact signed in 2015, which addressed infrastructure and energy. This provides a concrete basis for assessing Liberian government cooperation with the United States.
United States toward Liberia
+65The United States supported Liberia’s postwar recovery, including through substantial assistance and support for peace and security efforts. It also deployed military personnel to Liberia during the 2014 Ebola outbreak to support the response. U.S. sanctions against certain Liberian officials over corruption have added friction.
Overall relationship
+55The relationship has a durable cooperative structure, including U.S. support for Liberia’s recovery and emergency response and bilateral development programs such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact. Corruption-related U.S. sanctions represent a recurring area of friction, but do not outweigh the substantial cooperation.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Liberia and the United States maintain a close relationship shaped by sustained U.S. support for Liberia’s postwar recovery and later emergency response, alongside bilateral development cooperation. Liberia partnered with the United States through a Millennium Challenge Corporation compact focused on infrastructure and energy. U.S. sanctions against some Liberian officials over corruption have been a point of friction.
Areas of tension
- U.S. sanctions against Liberian officials over corruption and related accountability concerns.
Key developments
Liberia and the United States signed a Millennium Challenge Corporation compact focused on infrastructure and energy.
The United States deployed military personnel to Liberia to support the response to the Ebola outbreak.
Major uncertainties
- The full scope and implementation of bilateral development and security cooperation are unclear.
- The extent to which U.S. sanctions have affected broader government-to-government relations is uncertain.