AFRICOM's Role in Promoting U.S. Energy Security
Abstract
THESIS: Africa's geopolitical importance to the United States is, like the Middle East, in good measure due to its abundant store of natural resources. Enhancing U.S. energy security should, therefore, include engagement of resource producing African nations through as many sensible means as feasible. To this end, is the newly formed U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) a reasonable alternative to policymakers for use in pursuing long-term energy security objectives? DISCUSSION: With a history of colonialism, internecine conflict, weak states, disease, terrorism, and resource exploitation, the African continent contains the ingredients for a volatile geopolitical situation potentially capable of impacting U.S. national security, in particular, U.S. energy security. AFRICOM was created in part to address security issues and to enhance partnership activities. Some critics, moreover, view the creation of AFRICOM as the continuation of the post-9/11 trend to militarize U.S. foreign policy in the conduct of the war against terrorism. Others see the newly formed combatant command as a safeguard against the inevitable collision over natural resources between the United States and China. By 2050, world competition for resources on the relatively under-developed yet resource-rich African continent will reach stressful proportions. Built and propelled by the insatiable industrial and economic appetite for fossil-fuel resources, major energy-consuming nations like China and the United States will have to make hugely consequential decisions regarding the acquisition of those resources, in this case, from Africa. So what must the United States do in this regard to enhance its long-term energy security? Does AFRICOM stand as a reasonable policy tool to further this security goal?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA511300
Entities
People
- Larry L. Hosey
Organizations
- Marine Corps University