become impoverished. Therefore, USG solutions must en-
sure the effective leveraging of natural resources. The focus
for the security sector is inherently Defense Institution
Building (DIB), DIB encompasses functional recruitment,
retention and retirement strategy, which includes encour-
aging African governments to develop their own capacity
for interagency, inter-ministerial conversations. The USG
had to compel African governments to collaborate on the
regional threats, such as BH and ebola. The USG’s great-
est challenge is defining the transition point when the US
has built sufficient resilience and capacity to manage the
security sector, while ensuring it is aligned with an iterative
transition strategy to partner nation authority in the secu-
rity sector. Terrorism has been around as long as humanity,
so simply eliminating terrorist elements does not mitigate
the threat, and even potentially creates further instabili-
ty. As the dominant military force in the region grows to
counter the terrorist threat, it becomes disassociated from
the population it is designed to protect. Urgency exists, as
crises continue to compound at nearly the same rate as the
relentless African demographic growth. The US needs to
accept risks, and not continue deliberations to ensure every
activity is a resounding success. As the networks continue
to mature, the US must be postured to enable and enhance
good networks over bad ones. Africa is not a high tech
solution, basic communication and administration are ur-
gent requirements to ensure communities truly understand
the challenges. AFRICOM is in a unique position to raise
the issue of police training to further emphasize the need
for citizen security over state security. The US must deal
with conflict in such a way that it does not derail econom-
ic growth, and this is a discussion where AFRICOM can
show real leadership.
Another perspective is that AFRICOM is really not es-
sential in Africa as there is little need for armies, where in
police forces, gendarmerie and border security, and other
forms of citizen security are far more important for main-
taining stability. AFRICOM is not currently designed to
meet the challenge of developing police forces and main-
taining citizen security. Looking at megatrends confront-
ing the continent, Africa is ill-equipped economically to
keep pace with its demographic growth. With Africa’s
exploding population growth, its strategic importance
increase exponentially. State to society relationships in Af-
rica requires DoS to focus on countries that really do not
register on AFRICOMs agenda, as they may pose no direct
threat to US interests. These different institutional man-
dates and equities creates a disconnect within US priorities
in Africa. The annual strategic dialogue at the assistant
secretary, assistant director, Combatant Commander-level
enables the synchronization of defense, development and
diplomacy efforts and determines the efficacy and inade-
quacy of capacity building measures. One recurrent themes
is a need for a shared analysis and understanding of the en-
vironment, which is a platform that AFRICOM can bring
to the interagency to truly look at a comprehensive analysis
of national dynamics down to sub and trans-regional issues
that are really posing challenges. Nearly 20 million people
on the continent are currently internally displaced persons
(IDP), with only 1% of those IDP’s flowing to Europe.
The vast majority of the IDPs are handled internally by
African states, creating great pressure on the government
and the economy. However, the majority of the U.S. secu-
rity assistance funds are allocated to partner nations, who
are countering direct threats to the U.S. Many of these
partners are the least democratic governments in Africa.
The 3Ds need to develop a cross cutting strategy to achieve
strategic success on the continent. Not all sectors and
objectives are mutually supporting, and often gains in one
area, drives failure in another. Democracies need to be the
emphasis on the continent as public opinion polls have
shown such a representative-style government structure is
the desired system, however, currently only 11% live in full
or even flawed democracies. The population may not com-
pletely understand the principles of a democracy, but they
want to engage their government officials and move toward
a democratic structure.
The panel addressed the issue of AFRICOM not being an
acceptable platform for reforming the police, specifically
due to a lack of authority to do so. Which is in contrast
to the African dynamic where policing is conducted by
national, not local structure, so why would not the U.S.
military be a viable training option? AFRICOM with its
leveraging of other interagency assets, when armed with
the appropriate authorities would be a viable training op-
tion. AFRICOM forces could also be leveraged to assist in
the training process as a capacity builder for other agencies.
African police are national assets, and are the predomi-
nant security providers in the country, as the military is
designed to defend the sovereign state from its own people.
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