African Security and the African Command: Viewpoints on the US Role in Africa

After the end of the Cold War and a failed mission in Somalia, the US decided to wash its hands of major military operations in Africa. Within the past few years, however, strategic interests in the region have grown, based largely on the threat of international terrorist group activities there. In 2007, the Bush Administration created a new military presence in Africa, AFRICOM (United States Africa Command), professed to be based not on occupying military or fixed bases, but rather on capacity building for and collaboration with African security forces.

Some see AFRICOM as the answer to an African security system crippled by a lack of resources, widespread politicization and institutional weakness. Others claim the program is nothing more than a characteristic attempt by the US to secure its own interests in the region without regard to the actual needs of Africans. A variety of viewpoints on the debate, both from the US and Africa, come together in this collection to examine the objectives and activities of AFRICOM. The result provides the reader with a well-rounded picture of longstanding security challenges in Africa and what might be done to address them.

Terry Buss is distinguished professor of public policy at the Heinz College of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, Adelaide, Australia.

Louis Picard is Professor in the Division of International Development, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh.

Joseph Adjaye is Professor of Africana Studies, History and Public and International Affairs and Director of the African Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Professor Adjaye specializes in African and Diasporan affairs, history and cultures. He is a recipient of numerous grants and awards including Fulbright awards and the NEH, and is the author of dozens of articles and several books on Africa and the Caribbean, including the award-winning Diplomacy and Diplomats in 19th Century Asante. Adjaye has given over 400 invited lectures and presentations on campuses and in cities across the US and around the world.

Donald Goldstein is Professor of International Affairs and Interim Director of the Mathew B. Ridgeway Center for International Security in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. His areas of study include military history, public administration, political science, arms control, national interest and national security, theory and practice of international affairs, foreign policy process, international relations, administrative theory. He is the author of many books on the Second World War, Korea and related areas of military history.