Human security and great power competition in Africa: balancing the future needs of USAFRICOM
Abstract
The 2017 National Security Strategy, heavily focused on Great Power Competition, introduced the concept of 2 + 3 threats to the United States.2 The two large powers in rivalry with the US, China, and Russia, have become the biggest concerns for most instruments of national power, but especially the military and economic functions of the DIME. Iran, North Korea, and Violent Extremist Organizations were prioritized lower on the scale of threats, and have taken a back seat to counter a revisionist Russia and a rising China. Yet, one of the largest growing populations, economic bases and resource-rich regions in the worldAfricaremains largely ignored. With the impending reduction of American military forces in West Africa and an international strategy of isolationism, it is time to ask the question: Is a withdrawal from the African continent timely and prudent, or is the United States making a pre-mature decision to abandon the progress it has made and the influence it has built without fully understanding what is at stake? The United States must balance what it sees as its largest existential threats with that of the largest risks to the worldthe influence, and by extension, manipulation ofglobal powers that seek to undermine the United States and the international rules-based order to impose a new order with new rules of their own.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1124151
Entities
People
- Amy Natalini
- B H Somda
- Fatima Songare
- Gabe Burgi
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College