Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 10:30 a.m.--1:30 p.m.
Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
The October 1st operational launch of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), on the eve of new American Presidential Administration, provides an unprecedented opportunity to reconceive and reshape U.S. strategy toward Africa. However, while significant attention has been devoted to the structure and functions of AFRICOM—and to its "strategic communications" challenges—less thought has been given to identifying the core security interests that should guide U.S. strategy on the continent, and the new forms of partnership with a more self-assured Africa that are most likely to advance those interests.
With its capacity for political as well as military engagement, for conflict prevention as well as kinetic operations, AFRICOM has the potential to serve as a model for future interagency security cooperation efforts in the Long War. But what AFRICOM does is more important than how the command is structured. What is the strategic rationale for increased U.S. security engagement with African countries, in light of America's core global challenges? What are the emerging threats and challenges in Africa, and how should the United States best organize itself to address them? On October 1st, AEI scholars Mauro De Lorenzo and Thomas Donnelly will host a public panel to address these and other questions.