The USA-Africa command and USA foreign policy on Africa
Date
2016-08-04
Authors
Fixter, Charlene
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Abstract
The establishment of AFRICOM was met with a wave of criticism from African
leaders as well as from members within the American government. Despite the
seemingly lofty declarations by the USA about the purpose of AFRICOM, the
enthusiasm was not shared by all African leaders.
This study explored the reasons for the establishment of the USA-Africa
Command, AFRICOM. In doing so, it also examined the reaction of African leaders
after the announcement of the establishment of AFRICOM. The study further
looked at the reasons behind the lack of appreciation by African leaders for a
unilateral decision by the USA to establish a military Command on the African
continent. This study further investigated whether the USA military footprint in
Africa increased since the establishment of AFRICOM as well as the security
implications for Africa since AFRICOM’s establishment.
Thus the study confirmed an earlier assertion that AFRICOM needs to stabilise the
African continent for USA’s economic onslaught. The initial fears of USA’s
interference and dominance on the continent is thus far unfounded, as unified
African opposition to AFRICOM forced the USA to change track regarding some of
its plans regarding AFRICOM. An initial charge that AFRICOM is another form of
colonisation of Africa by the USA cannot be borne out by this research.
The study showed that significant developments took place in Africa in the last
decade, changing it from a “hopeless” continent to a continent “rising”. This has
focused the world’s attention, such as superpowers like USA and China, and
emerging giants like Russia, Brazil and India, on Africa. This led to a dramatic shift
in USA foreign policy towards Africa, giving rise to the birth of AFRICOM in 2007.
Description
Research report submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand School of
Governance, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment for the Masters of Management
(Public and Development Management).
Masters of Management in Security
March 2015