Two interesting articles about AFRICOM from Stars and Stripes (hat tip: Small Wars Journal for both).
The first talks about the difficulties of setting up an African command situation.
From the sound of it, one of the biggest problem is settling ‘caffeine-fueled’ American soldiers and DoD personnel into ‘African time’. Other differences include demographics, history, culture, infrastructure – not simply between the US and ‘Africa’ but between African countries. Unfortunately for the military, ‘cookie cutter’ approaches won’t work.
The second article looks at the controversy surrounding AFRICOM’s openness to working with China. China is expanding its influence in Africa, looking for oil and food resources. It is accomplishing this partly through trade, and partly through no-strings-attached, no-questions-asked, no-morals-necessary aid, including weapons.
The latter, particularly, aggravates human rights activists and others, as the recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Africa Relations Subcommittee “China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy” hearings demonstrate.
I include myself in the groups upset by the arms-dealing, but I also recognize that the realities of development, particularly in Africa, and of diplomacy, especially with China growing in its power, are not conducive to cutting it out of any arrangements on the continent. Clearly, the US shouldn’t simply accept China’s role in supporting Mugabe or the government of Sudan, but that doesn’t necessitate cutting diplomatic ties or outright condemnation, as some would suggest.
