United States Africa Command – Balance of Activities during the Presidencies of George H. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump

Authors

  • Robert Kłosowicz Jagiellonian University in Kraków

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.76.13

Keywords:

U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Armed Forces, International Security, Foreign Policy, African States

Abstract

The article aims at analyzing the development of the U.S. Africa Command during the three presidential administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. According to the author, the attitude of individual American presidents and their administration to the U.S. AFRICOM is an accurate reflection of the approach to both the problems of African states and the place of Africa in the foreign and security policy of the United States. Since the foundation of the U.S. AFRICOM by the administration of G.W. Bush to D. Trump’s desire to liquidate the command. Trump’s attitude to Africa is also illustrated by the fact that he was the first American president since Ronald Reagan who did not visit any of the 54 African states. His two predecessors paid nine such official visits to African countries in total. It seems that despite many myths and fears that accompanied the birth of AFRICOM and during its first years of existence, the worst scenarios have not come to fruition. AFRICOM has not militarized Africa, it has not caused the drastic exacerbation of the rivalry with China in the region, and it has not become the military arm of US expansionism on the continent. What is more, even many skeptics among African state leaders have noted that it has thus far played and continues to play a positive role in counteracting terrorism, therefore, it has supported the stability of African countries.

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Author Biography

Robert Kłosowicz, Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Historian of international relations, Africanist, professor at the Institute of Political Science and International Relations at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Director of the Jagiellonian Research Center for African Studies, His research interests include relations between diplomacy and the armed forces, the issues of international security and military conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa, dysfunctional and de facto states. He has conducted fieldwork in over twenty African countries.

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Published

2022-05-10

How to Cite

Kłosowicz, Robert. 2022. “United States Africa Command – Balance of Activities During the Presidencies of George H. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump”. Politeja 19 (1(76):255-84. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.76.13.