Will the Establishment of USAFRICOM Compliment or Compete with African Standby Force
Abstract
Since the announcement of USAFRICOM in 2007 and its eventual establishment in 2008, a lot has been said about its intentions and designs in Africa. However, the US government and African Command (AFRICOM) commander have repeatedly stated that AFRICOMs sole purpose is to capacitate African governments to respond to crises within the continent. Herein is the possibility of competition that AFRICOM poses to African Standby Force (ASF), because ASF was established for the same purpose. The view within Africa is that African problems should be solved by Africans, but African countries do not have the capacity to effectively deal with emerging security problems which have the potential to impact the global political economy. The establishment of USAFRICOM promises to bridge the capacity gap and provide African countries with some of the lacking capacity. However African leaders are resisting the establishment due to a myriad of reasons. This paper reviews this relationship and finds that cooperation is better than competition when it comes to issues of security in Africa.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- AD1020100
Entities
People
- Julius M. Minyori
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College