The US engagement with the nations of Africa has changed subtly with US defense, diplomatic and economic officials listening to African leaders detail their needs, goals, values and concerns, said Chidi Blyden, deputy assistant secretary Advocacy for African Affairs.
Blyden spoke with the Defense Writers Group yesterday and detailed how the US Department of Defense and Africa Command are working with the nations of the diverse and expansive continent. She was speaking ahead of the African Leaders Summit in Washington next week.
DOD’s work with African nations is based on the “three D’s” approach: defense, development and diplomacy. This approach is not new, but the DOD and other US agencies are working very hard to learn from past mistakes “and to work closely with African partners to form genuine partnerships based on mutual respect, the values of trust and interest,” he said.
The three-D approach has always sought to merge the efforts of the State Department, DOD, and the US Agency for International Development, with varying degrees of success. “I think the emphasis this time will be that we’re going to do this in collaboration, conjunction and coordination with African partners,” Blyden said.
US Africa Command was born with this idea in mind. The command has leadership in both the State and Defense Departments, he said. “What we’re doing now is combining and merging these efforts rather than doing them separately, while working closely with other parts of government as well,” the deputy assistant secretary said.
The new approach also includes the private sector to create a “whole-of-society approach,” he said. “Our new approach will also draw on the ingenuity of both the African diaspora and African populations, drawing on the expertise of our partners and incorporating both,” she said. “Once we join these efforts, we will recognize and strengthen the unique links that exist between security, governance and development, and we are confident that it will yield… dividends that we have not seen in the past.”
DOD and Africom will focus on working with civilian-led defense institutions to reinvigorate efforts to build institutional capacity. The organizations will also work to build and strengthen relationships with the African security sector through education, exercise and training opportunities.
“Our intention is to try to reassess the past to see what it can teach us,” he said. “Obviously we’re trying to tailor our approach to show that we’ve learned from it; we’re looking to embrace creative solutions to help turn Africa’s potential into reality. We’ve seen that they hold tremendous promise and they want our support and partnership to do that.”
The United States is not the only nation seeking to work with African nations. China and Russia are also looking for influence on the mainland with China looking for allies to change the rules-based international system, and Russia’s Wagner Group looking to infiltrate troubled states for influence and money.
Still, Blyden reiterated a statement Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has made many times: The United States is not asking nations to choose between the United States and China or Russia. “Honestly, I think… that we are the best partner for African nations on a number of issues because we share many strategic and mutual goals with African countries, such as climate change mitigation, pandemic relief and support, post-COVID-19 economic recovery, and obviously countering the malign influence of outsiders, actors who do not have African interests in mind,” he said.
The African Leaders Summit will focus on engagement and consultation with African partners. “We want to continue to socialize our approach with African leaders to ensure that the approach continues to address Africa’s most pressing challenges and seize opportunities as they evolve,” she said. “I am confident that this approach and the efforts we will make through the African Leaders Summit will pay dividends that we hope to achieve. We want leaders to leave knowing that the breadth of opportunities to work with the United States is endless.”
