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"U.S. National Security Interests & the Role of

the Militaries in Africa"


A Successful Seminar Presented by the CGSC Leavenworth Africanist Faculty

The Fall 2006 African Studies Seminar sponsored by KASC, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS was presented on African and U.S. security interests and the role of African militaries on the continent. The goal of this series was to give the participants greater insights into some of the areas of interplay military forces have in the daily affairs of present-day Africa . Special emphasis was on the role of the American military in conjunction with other aspects of American policy that are being used in regards to current and future U.S. national security interests and strategy on the African continent. An obvious conclusion from this series of presentations was the realization that U.S. economic, political, and security interests in Africa are on the rise.


Doug Lathrop of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Leavenworth presents for the 2006 African Seminar Series

The series was launched with a presentation from Major (Chaplain) Bob Owen on "Islamic Terrorism in Africa and America's Response to It." The presentation was well illustrated by videos and examples from different parts of Africa. It was well received and well discussed by the audience, particularly the part on Northern Nigerian perspectives on the U.S. policy cornering the war on Islamic terrorism. The second presentation was delivered by Douglas Lathrop, CGSC faculty, on Thursday, September 14th, entitled: "China in Africa: Has the Cold War Returned to the Continent?" The basic content of the presentation was an in-depth look at China's return to Africa in a big way. The analytical part of the briefing focused on the impact this may have upon the U.S. military in Africa. Mr. Lathrop also presented "Oil in Africa: Cure or Curse? or What a Difference an ‘s' Makes" on Thursday, October 19. This presentation, in particular, was extremely interesting and raised many political, economic, and environmental issues.

The third presentation examined the efforts of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF HOA) in promoting regional stability, building capacity, and combating terrorism in the Horn of Africa and East Africa.  The Task Force's actions were placed into the larger context of the political/economic situation of the Horn and East Africa. It was presented by Lt. Col. Shawn Cupp and Anton Menning, a KU graduate student and a journalist who was embedded as a reporter in the Task Force. The lecture provided a critical look into the ultimate effectiveness of the U.S. military in Africa and attempted to answer the question:  Is terrorism really a concern in the region?

The last session of this successful seminar presented student officers Captain Sidi Toure from Mali and Lt. Col. Elias Abraha from Ethiopia on Thursday, November 30 to discuss security issues in Africa from African military perspectives. It was well received and discussed by an audience of faculty and students. The following week, on Friday December 6, KASC presented a panel on "The Wave of Islamic Activism in Africa" for the CGSC faculty and staff.

We would like to thank Doug Lathrop and his colleagues at the CGSC at Leavenworth for their effort and dedication in preparing and presenting this seminar. The significance of this seminar demonstrates that the CGSC Leavenworth and KU have a viable two-way exchange relationship. We look forward to continuing this collaboration between Africanists at KU and CGSC.

--Khalid El-Hassan, Associate Director of KASC

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