Africa's Realignment and America's Strategic Interests in the Postcontainment Era
Abstract
Africa has not ranked as one of the core concerns of our traditional security interests, nor is it anticipated that, at least in sub-Saharan Africa, we will encounter challenges requiring massive armed intervention. However, the 1991 war with Iraq has uncovered important new developments that make our close monitoring of that continent imperative. Generally, Africa's more dangerous conflicts are characterized by substantial external intervention-which previously had concerned mostly the activities of the Soviet Union, various members of the Warsaw Pact, Cuba, and Libya. Much is made of Africa's unfortunate social conditions, and many have assumed a simple causal connection between Africa's violence and poverty. This is an unwarranted assumption and may detract from a full comprehension of these conflicts. Similarly, much of our previous African policy focused on the assumed importance of southern Africa's strategic minerals, the sea-lanes around South Africa, and our undisturbed access to Africa's oil. In view of the rapid extrication of the Soviet Union and Cuba from their previous commitments in Africa, these traditional security concerns also require our reexamination. We may also be advised to reassess our standard assumptions regarding our assertive stance on Africa's democratization process and our insistence on rather orthodox free-market structures, which may not be appropriate models and which may produce counterproductive results in these extremely fragile societies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA271790
Entities
People
- Karl P. Magyar
Organizations
- Air University