Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Name	Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Formation	1999
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Parent organization	United States Department of Defense

Africa Center for Strategic Studies is a U.S. Department of Defense institution established in 1999 to engage African leaders, officials, and institutions on issues affecting Africa and United States strategic interests. The Center conducts courses, seminars, and research addressing security, governance, and transnational threats involving actors from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Somalia, Djibouti, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Madagascar, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Eritrea, Cape Verde, and other African states.

History

The Center was launched under policies influenced by the post-Cold War restructuring of the United States Department of Defense and lessons from engagements such as Operation Restore Hope, Operation Gothic Serpent, Somalia Intervention, Operation Uphold Democracy, and diplomatic initiatives linked to the African Union and Economic Community of West African States. Its founding intersected with strategic dialogues involving administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and subsequent secretaries including William Perry, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, and Leon Panetta. Early programming drew on analysis from institutions like the National Defense University, Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, Center for Strategic and International Studies, RAND Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and academic departments at Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Kennedy School, and Columbia University. The Center’s evolution reflected shifts following events such as the War in Afghanistan, Iraq War, Global War on Terrorism, the 2011 Libyan civil war, the Sahel insurgency, the Boko Haram insurgency, the Al-Shabaab insurgency, and crises in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic.

Mission and Objectives

Mandated to promote security cooperation, the Center’s objectives align with guidance from the United States National Security Council, the United States Africa Command, and bilateral policy frameworks between United States and African capitals including Abuja, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Pretoria, Accra, Dakar, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Khartoum. Its mission languages resonate with accords such as the African Union Constitutive Act, the Nouakchott Declaration, and regional protocols under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the East African Community (EAC). Core aims include strengthening leadership capacity among officials from Ministries of Defense, Parliaments like the Pan-African Parliament, judicial actors linked to the International Criminal Court, and civil society figures from networks associated with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International, and regional NGOs.

Programs and Activities

Programming spans resident courses, workshops, research publications, and outreach tied to policy areas such as counterterrorism responses to Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and affiliate groups; maritime security in regions proximate to the Gulf of Guinea, Horn of Africa, and Red Sea; peace operations supporting mandates of United Nations Security Council resolutions; and stabilization efforts informed by cases like the Rwandan genocide and Sierra Leone Civil War. The Center hosts tailored seminars bringing together officers from Nigerian Armed Forces, South African National Defence Force, Kenya Defence Forces, Ethiopian National Defense Force, and civilian counterparts from ministries modeled after Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France), United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Research outputs reference archives, datasets, and publications from entities such as the United Nations, African Union Commission, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Programme, and academic journals published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Organization and Governance

Organizational oversight involves liaison with the National Defense University, the United States Secretary of Defense, and United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), while governance includes advisory input from former officials like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright, and scholars affiliated with Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, Duke University, University of Oxford, London School of Economics, and University of Cape Town. Administrative structures mirror models used by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and engage fellows drawn from the Fulbright Program, Rotary International, and regional scholarship schemes. Leadership appointments reflect policy coordination with the United States Congress, especially committees such as the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Partnerships and Collaboration

The Center cultivates partnerships across multilateral and bilateral lines including the African Union, United Nations, European Union, NATO, ECOWAS, SADC, IGAD, World Bank, and think tanks like the Atlantic Council, African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) — note: distinct regional bodies, African Research Universities Alliance, and universities across Africa and Europe. It cooperates with defense academies including the National Defense University (US), Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, École militaire (France), Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, and regional centers such as the Kigali Institute of Education and University of Nairobi.

Impact and Criticism

The Center’s impact is measured by networks formed among alumni from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, and other states, policy dialogues influencing operations like multinational counter-piracy task forces off the Horn of Africa and cooperative exercises with France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, and China. Criticism has come from observers citing concerns about strategic alignment with United States defense priorities, debates over sovereignty raised by scholars focused on Neocolonialism, questions from activists linked to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and academic critiques published in journals overseen by editors at Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis. Discussions continue in forums such as the Munich Security Conference, the Aspen Security Forum, and regional summits of the African Union.

Category:United States Department of Defense Category:Think tanks established in 1999