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AFRICA–US: Warning on Military Cost to Diplomacy

AFRICA–US: Warning on Military Cost to Diplomacy A new report echoes the belief held by some analysts that US policy has grown increasingly militarised and edged out diplomacy in the years since 9/11. A combination of leadership shortcomings and inadequate funding is undermining US diplomacy in Africa, an internal State Department review has found. “Embassy platforms are collapsing under the weight of new programmes and staffing without corresponding resources to provide the services required by new tenants and requirements,” warns the report issued in the second week of August by the department’s inspector general. Personnel at American embassies in Africa and in the State Department’s Africa Bureau in Washington are being “swamped” as they attempt to respond to “seemingly endemic conflicts from Sudan to the DR Congo ” as well as to an “onslaught” of US military and development activity in Africa, the report, which was carried out between April and June, adds. “The US military is stepping into a void created by a lack of resources for traditional development and public diplomacy,” the inspector general warns. That finding appears to confirm charges by some independent analysts that US policy towards Africa has grown increasingly militarised in the years since the 2001 terror attacks on http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

AFRICA–US: Warning on Military Cost to Diplomacy

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2009.02527.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A new report echoes the belief held by some analysts that US policy has grown increasingly militarised and edged out diplomacy in the years since 9/11. A combination of leadership shortcomings and inadequate funding is undermining US diplomacy in Africa, an internal State Department review has found. “Embassy platforms are collapsing under the weight of new programmes and staffing without corresponding resources to provide the services required by new tenants and requirements,” warns the report issued in the second week of August by the department’s inspector general. Personnel at American embassies in Africa and in the State Department’s Africa Bureau in Washington are being “swamped” as they attempt to respond to “seemingly endemic conflicts from Sudan to the DR Congo ” as well as to an “onslaught” of US military and development activity in Africa, the report, which was carried out between April and June, adds. “The US military is stepping into a void created by a lack of resources for traditional development and public diplomacy,” the inspector general warns. That finding appears to confirm charges by some independent analysts that US policy towards Africa has grown increasingly militarised in the years since the 2001 terror attacks on

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Sep 1, 2009

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