TransAfrica Forum is opposed to the militarization of U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid on the African Continent.  
 
We believe that the creation of the tenth Unified Combatant Command, the U.S. Africa Command or AFRICOM takes the flawed “aid for security” paradigm to new and even further flawed heights.
 
We recognize that the garnering of foreign nation support for U.S. national security interests has long been the main driver of US diplomacy and aid allocations on the African Continent.   
 
We recognize that despite a veneer of altruism and humanitarianism the U.S. government’s aid policy has long mirrored U.S. security and resource (oil, minerials, natural gas) needs at the expense of poverty reduction and economic justice.

We recognize that, since the cold war, U.S. foreign assistance to the African Continent has been driven by U.S. short-term security objectives.  

We oppose AFRICOM and advocate for a U.S. foreign aid and military paradigm that promotes real security on the African Continent through the cancellation of African nation’s illegitimate and odious debt, fair trade agreements and aid allocations that support the building of infrastructure to fight diease and curb corruption.

AFRICOM 101: The Basics

On February 6, 2007, the Bush Administration announced its intention to create the tenth Unified Combatant Command, the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, to promote U.S. national security objectives in Africa and its surrounding waters.  

That same month TransAfrica Forum was one of the first U.S. civil society organizations to voice opposition to the U.S. government’s plans to create the tenth Unified Combatant Command, the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM. 

Recognizing both the history of the U.S. military operations on the African Continent and the present day impacts of the Bush Administration’s “freedom agenda” foreign policy in the Middle East and Latin America TransAfrica Forum denounced the plans to expand U.S. military into the African continent as neither wise nor productive. 

TransAfrica Forum joined other critics, both on the African continent and in the U.S., in exposing AFRICOM as nothing more than a sovereignty and resource grab.  As the newest iteration of a failed foreign policy agenda driven by exploitation of natural resources and the expansion of the Global War on Terror, AFRICOM is much more than a “structural” solution to an “organizational” problem within the U.S. Department of Defense.

LEARN MORE:

Factsheets:

AFRICOM: Private Military Contractors and AFRICOM

AFRICOM: Militarization of U.S. Aid and Influence

AFRICOM: Ethiopia, Somalia and the Global War on Terror
 

Policy Briefs:

AFRICOM: The Militarization of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Aid  

TransAfrica Forum in the News:

TransAfrica Forum’s Exective Director and Chairman of the Board Speak out Against AFRICOM     
 

Resist AFRICOM:

TransAfrica Forum works with our African and U.S. based civil society to expose the dangers of AFRICOM and advocate for the reorganization of its mission.    To learn more:  RESIST AFRICOM