Reinforcement of military security in Africa: tha case of AFRICOM

Abstract

The current military security situation in Africa is shaped by a number of factors which include the fight against terrorism, coups and intrastate conflicts. Terrorism is a security threat to Africa and is growing at an alarming rate mainly in the Sahel region, the horn of Africa and in West Africa. In 2013 Kenya, Somalia, Algeria, Mali and Nigeria were countries which experienced scenes of terrorist attacks in Africa. African governments are also being faced with another security problem in maritime security along African coastlines. Pirates have turned East African seas into the world‘s most dangerous seas. African militaries have been actively involved in the politics of African countries, mostly culminating in coups that oust elected civilian governments. This prerogative of keeping the peace comes from an entrenched perspective of military security as being the apex of other form of security. It should be noted, however, that in most cases the military intervention in politics has brought about more harm than good and has severely threatened human security in Africa. These difficulties result not only from the magnitude of these challenges, but also from the lack of capacity of some African states and organizations to respond quickly and effectively to them. After an assessment of Africa‘s security challenges the U.S created AFRICOM which seems to offer only militaristic assistance to African security challenges which cover a wide range of security issues i.e. social, economic and human security. Though AFRICOM was purported as being a tool to secure Africa, since its inception it has overseen the steady increase in conflict and armed interventions on the continent. This is because AFRICOM has increased the military presence of the U.S in Africa and enhanced the capacity of NATO for forward deployment in Africa. This was seen in the Libyan intervention when AFRICOM took charge of coordinating and leading the attack. The focus of the study is to analyse the command‘s objective and to assess whether the military security assistance being offered by AFRICOM jeopardises or enforces AFRICA‘s military security. The study mostly relied on qualitative research design; the information used in this study was drawn from interviews, case studies and documentary search. The main aim of this research is to add to the body of knowledge and to raise awareness on the help being offered by U.S and its possible effects on Africa‘s military security and also to analyse the change from military diplomacy to defense diplomacy by the U.S ; AFRICOM being the tool.