Countering Terrorism in East Africa: The U.S. Response

The United States government has implemented a range of programs to counter violent extremist threats in East Africa in response to Al Qaeda’s bombing of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 and subsequent transnational terrorist activity in the region. These programs include regional and bilateral efforts, both military and civilian. The programs seek to build regional intelligence, military, law enforcement, and judicial capacities; strengthen aviation, port, and border security; stem the flow of terrorist financing; and counter the spread of extremist ideologies.

Lauren Ploch, Congressional Research Service

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Radical Islam in East Africa

Historically, Africa has not been a central theater in U.S. strategic planning. U.S. interests there have been viewed as marginal, and the threats to those interests have not been considered serious enough to require the deployment of significant resources or policy attention. In recent years, however, Africa has come to be regarded as an increasingly important region, where American geopolitical interests and the potential threats to those interests are both on the rise. Consequently, the Department of Defense is abandoning its traditional policy of strategic minimalism in favor of a more robust approach, signified most prominently by the establishment of a unified combatant command for Africa.

Angel Rabasa, RAND

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U.S. Counterterrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa: understanding costs, cultures and conflicts

In this Letort Paper, Dr. Donovan C. Chau examines U.S. counterterrorism policy in SSA. He begins by analyzing the policy debate in Washington, DC, especially the fundamental divergence of approaches between development and defense. From there, the paper shifts to a discussion of the attitudes and views of terrorism and counterterrorism in SSA. Vast and diverse, SSA is divided subregionally into East, West, and Southern Africa so as to highlight the different geographies, histories, threats, and perceptions.

Donovan C. Chau, Strategic Studies Institute

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Examining US Counterterrorism Priorities and Strategy Across Africa's Sahel Region

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other terrorist groups will always be able to find recruits among the small pool of fellow extremists who share their distorted vision of jihad, but their ability to draw active or tacit support from populations in the Sahel can be curtailed with a combination of targeted security assistance and development aid. Activities that allow local governments to reduce AQIM’s ability to operate while also undermining its appeal to potential recruits stand the best chance of reducing insecurity in the Sahel.

Lianne Kennedy-Boudali, RAND

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Africa’s Fragile States: Empowering Extremists, Exporting Terrorism

Africa’s fragile states create political and security environments that enhance the leverage of Islamist extremists in their ongoing struggle with moderates for influence. Countering extremism in Africa, therefore, cannot be separated from building stronger, more legitimate states.

Zachary Devlin-Foltz, Africa Center for Strategic Studies

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The American Public on the 9/11 Decade: A Study of American Public Opinion

This is not about Africa. We made this exception because of the 11-9. This study is really interesting because of the conclusions. A majority of Americans believes that over the last decade the US over-invested resources in some of the responses to the 9/11 attacks and that this over-investment has contributed to America’s economic problems today. The largest numbers believe that the over-investment occurred in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and using aid to build alliances. Small numbers feel the US over invested in pursuing terrorist groups, airport security measures, and preparing first responders. Overall, two in three believe US influence has diminished in the world over the last decade, and this view is highly correlated with the belief that the US over-invested in responses to 9/11.

Shibley Telhami, Steven Kull, University of Maryland

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AFRICOM’s Relationship to Oil, Terrorism and China

Why a combatant command for Africa? I argue that AFRICOM was formed to implement the U.S. national security strategy that seeks to strengthen states and eliminate ungoverned space, as well as establish relationships with African states that offer a means to greater state stability and foster economic development. In so doing, it counters global jihadist by denying them haven among weak governments or in ungoverned areas. It protects U.S. interests in resources by helping governments become more stable. And it competes with the Chinese approach that could worsen the status quo of ineffective states and ungoverned space. Indeed, the U.S. approach of increasing state effectiveness makes African countries less susceptible to the problems that may arise from the Chinese approach and so serves China’s interests in access to natural resources.

Carmel Davis, Orbis

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The Piracy and Terrorism Nexus: Real or Imagined?

The waters off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden have been the location of a dramatic proliferation of pirate activities in recent years. Security officials around the world are concerned about the risks posed by Somali piracy to maritime shipping and to national security. These risks relate to the susceptibility of world trade shipments to terrorist attack and to the emergence of an increasingly powerful Islamist movement in Somalia with connections to global terrorist networks. Whilst Somali piracy has been the topic of growing media speculation, reliable information about the phenomenon is scant. This paper reports on research conducted in Kenya where over 100 Somalis are being prosecuted for piracy. It aims to give insight into the motivations of Somali pirates and argues that the weight of current evidence strongly suggests that piracy off the East African coast is strictly an economic crime.

Karine Hamilton, Edith Cowan University

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