In the midst of the escalating international competition for the continent’s resources and the areas of political and economic influence in it, Washington took the initiative to change the course of its approach to confronting terrorism in Africa to keep pace with the developments of this competition, and at the heart of this competition is the adoption of proactive policies, both in the traditional crisis areas (the Horn of Africa, the Sahel region and Central Africa). ), or in potential areas, as in West Africa in particular.
The document presents a new vision for the US-African partnership in the 21st century, despite criticism from “right-wing circles” describing it as “the embodiment of Barack Obama’s policies” and for “ignoring Africa as a whole” and focusing, instead , on the "south of the Sahara", which contradicts Africans' perception of their continent.
In any case, the previous brief paragraph in the document (and the only one that deals exclusively with the issue of confronting terrorism in the text of the 15-page American document), and the subsequent link to the efforts of the “war on terror” to confront the “malignant Russian influence” in Africa, revealed that The continuation of the traditional American vision of terrorism on the continent, as a marginal file, while it is a continuation of the “step by step” policy based on mortgaging American support activities to move forward in response to the requirements of the various US interests in the concerned African countries.
The Expansion of the US War on Terror: West Africa as a Model
On the eve of the 21st anniversary of the events of September 11, the United States confirmed the expansion of its efforts to confront terrorism in Africa, by revealing that it had sent a team of special operations soldiers to participate in training the Ivorian army forces, in response to Abidjan’s request for assistance in facing the threat of the expansion of terrorist groups from the coast to the Gulf Guinea. The US Embassy in Abidjan (September 10) pointed out that the training is part of “strengthening the operational and tactical capabilities to prevent, respond to and curtail violent extremism,” which is considered a development of the proactive activities of the US forces in cooperation with the Ivorian army to confront potential terrorist threats, and the link between these threats.
In the Sahel region and its repercussions in West Africa. Côte d'Ivoire has been the scene of many terrorist attacks in recent years, most of which took place near the border with Burkina Faso in the north of the country, which prompted Abidjan and the United States to cooperate in carrying out joint operations to counter the escalation of al-Qaeda and ISIS organizations in the region, especially In Mali, Burkina Faso and western Niger, in light of the fear that their operations will expand to coastal West African countries.
In the same vein, the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, at the end of last month, requested the assistance of the United States of his country and the West African region in dealing with the threat of terrorism and violent extremism. Addo drew the attention of a delegation from the US Congress, during his visit to Accra (with a clear agenda to evaluate US government projects, USAID programs and investments in Ghana), that “the threats posed by the expanding Islamic network have constrained socio-economic growth in the region.
And that these threats were the result of the United States’ fight for a decade against terrorism in the Middle East and other parts of the world,” before adding the link of this expansion to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya more than a decade ago. The Ghanaian president analyzed the situation by taking advantage of terrorist groups in the Sahel region from the collapse of the Gaddafi regime and their penetration into West Africa - such as Mali - to escape from confronting the United States. The fact that Ghana was not exposed to any terrorist attacks, despite its proximity to Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, did not prevent Ghana from escalating future fears of these threats.
A feverish American desire to achieve unprecedented political and economic gains on the African continent through its favorite “war on terror” by imposing real political and development conditions with “understandable” justifications and goals that the upcoming US-African summit in Washington will reveal more clearly.