{"id":23250,"date":"2018-12-13T17:38:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T17:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/13\/us-africa-strategy-hinges-on-local-forces-stepping-up-as-pentagon-ramps-down-bolton\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:58:09","slug":"us-africa-strategy-hinges-on-local-forces-stepping-up-as-pentagon-ramps-down-bolton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/13\/us-africa-strategy-hinges-on-local-forces-stepping-up-as-pentagon-ramps-down-bolton\/","title":{"rendered":"US Africa strategy hinges on local forces stepping up as Pentagon ramps down: Bolton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 As the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/15\/dod-is-stretched-thin-and-has-decided-to-pull-back-in-africa\/\" target=_blank>pulls back America\u2019s military presence in Africa<\/a>, it\u2019s calling for more African regional security organizations to step up, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Bolton unveiled the administration\u2019s strategy to counter the rapidly expanding financial and political influence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2018\/11\/14\/a-crisis-of-national-security-new-report-to-congress-sounds-alarm\/\" target=_blank>China and Russia<\/a> across Africa and work through allies to curb radical Islamic terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, Bolton also sought to contrast America\u2019s straight-forward approach \u2014 to \u201chelp African nations take control of their economic destinies and their own security needs\u201d \u2014 with China\u2019s \u201cpredatory\u201d investments in local infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChina uses bribes, opaque agreements, and the strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing\u2019s wishes and demands,\u201d Bolton said. \u201cIts investment ventures are riddled with corruption, and do not meet the same environmental or ethical standards as U.S. development projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the military front, China opened its first overseas military base last year in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, the site of the only permanent U.S. military base on the continent. Bolton warned of a possible shift of the strategic region, along the lucrative and busy Red Sea shipping lane, to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the plans to develop U.S. economic ties and protect the independence of African countries comes as the U.S. military will cut 10 percent of its 7,200 forces deployed in Africa. America hopes to foster African self-reliance, Bolton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we\u2019d like to do is empower the African countries to do more security, to do it more of their own security, to do it in coordination with one another \u2014 they\u2019re the ones who know the neighborhood \u2014 rather than have the deployment of American forces who are comparatively very well paid and well equipped,\u201d Bolton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bolton also emphasized the potential of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, a band of 5,000 troops comprised of Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mali \u2014 formed to counter militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. almost doubled its pledge of financial support for the force that began deploying last year to fight a surge in Islamist militant attacks, Bloomberg reported last month. Assistance was set to jump to $111 million, from an initial pledge of $60 million made in October 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the G5 Joint Force, according to the United Nations, is suffering from \u201cequipment shortfalls, capability gaps, insufficient infrastructure and a lack of secured operational bases [that] continue to delay its full operationalization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. special operations forces in Central and West Africa have been focused on training up African host-nation forces to combat growing insurgencies from Islamist militants. But the military is ramping down on the continent, following a national report that the U.S. military lacks the global resources to meet China or Russia in a potential future conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur goal is for the nations of the region to take ownership over peace and security in their own neighborhood,\u201d Bolton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUnder our new strategy, we will also take several additional steps to help our African friends fight terrorism and strengthen the rule of law,\u201d Bolton said. \u201cWe will assist key African governments in building the capacity of partner forces and security institutions to provide effective and sustainable security and law enforcement services to their citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, Bolton expressed support for the idea of moving U.S. Africa Command headquarters to Africa from Germany, where it\u2019s been since its founding in 2007. \u201cI think the Pentagon has been clear that it ought to be in the theater it\u2019s responsible for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bolton said the U.S. wants to see more regional cooperative security organizations like the G5 Sahel Joint Force emerge around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the force seeking to build regional capability to combat terrorism, transnational organized crime, and human trafficking in the Sahel, \u201cG5 countries must remain in the driver\u2019s seat\u2014this initiative cannot be outsourced to the U.N. for funding and other support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bolton, who has long denounced the United Nations, said the U.S. will a reevaluate its support for U.N. peacekeeping missions \u2014 only supporting those it deems \u201ceffective and efficient.\u201d He blasted the peace-keeping operation in the Western Sahara for lasting 27 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll too often at the United Nations, establishing the peace-keeping force and deploying it is the end of creative thinking,\u201d he said. \u201cThere needs to be a lot more focus on resolving the conflict. Success is not simply continuing the mission ad infinitum.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Trump administration pulls back America\u2019s military presence in Africa, it\u2019s calling for more African regional security organizations to step up, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said 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