Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

AFRICOM has not only become a vehicle for cooperation amongst military forces in peacetime and in armed conflict, but has also become a powerful engine for change, adding impetus to and encouraging mutual prosperity for the U.S. and Africa through increased capital and trade." This notion of ever evolving scope of interests with African nations towards mutual prosperity includes the estimate that 25% of America's oil will be imported from Africa by 2015," while America comes under increasing pressure to cease the suffering of millions of Africans who live in poverty and fear daily.

This Article will survey the significant legal, political, and operational challenges that the command has already encountered in its relatively short existence, the challenges which lie ahead for AFRICOM, and why AFRICOM will need to further adapt its cooperation with African allies and quantify "value-added" capabilities if it is to successfully provide and promote allied capabilities. Part I will examine Africa as an "arc of instability," while Part 2 will describe how U.S. centralized diplomatic and political strategy led to the creation of AFRICOM and the advancement of both U.S. and African economic, security, and development policies. The impact of the "resourcing-to-requirements" differential (or the disparity in the resources AFRICOM has versus what it must do with them) is discussed in Part 3. The uncertainty created by this U.S. action, as well as its implications on future humanitarian efforts in the region is explained in Part 4, with further discussion on how this perceived uncertainty will affect African and nonAfrican nations' reactions to AFRICOM in Part 5. Finally, what African nations will do about and with AFRICOM now and in the future is described in Part 6. This Article, therefore, addresses the issues and obstacles AFRICOM is likely to encounter, and attempts to discover the potential solutions offered by law and policy that would aid the organization in successfully accomplishing its stated missions, and advancing an "arc of stability" in Africa.

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