Under President Donald Trump’s administration, the U.S. military is urging its allies in Africa to increase “independent operations” and “burden sharing.”
According to The Associated Press, the U.S. military’s call for its African allies to be less reliant on the United States and become more independent represents a shift from the U.S. military’s traditional emphasis on addressing the underlying causes of insurgencies in African nations.
The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration’s shift in policy toward America’s allies in Africa was emphasized in its recent African Lion joint training exercise, which is the U.S. military’s largest joint training exercise in the region. In an interview with The Associated Press, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said, “We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations.”
During the final day of the African Lion joint training exercise last Friday, Langley said, “There needs to be some burden sharing.”
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The Associated Press reported that while the U.S. government has traditionally been outspoken regarding the links between defense, development, and diplomacy with regard to security in Africa, Langley noted that one of the Department of Defense’s priorities under Trump’s leadership is to help U.S. allies develop the capability of managing their own security.
“We have our set priorities now — protecting the homeland,” Langley told The Associated Press. In reference to the country’s support for Sudan, Langley added, “And we’re also looking for other countries to contribute to some of these global instability areas.”
In a statement on U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s website, U.S. military officials announced that African Lion 25 was U.S. Africa Command’s “largest, premier, annual exercise, hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia.”
“This joint, all-domain, multi-component, and multinational exercise includes more than 10,000 participants from more than twenty nations, including contingents from NATO,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa added. “African Lion aims to strengthen interoperability among participants and build readiness to respond to crises and contingencies in Africa and around the world.”
