Africa's Ungoverned Space

Resumo

The attention that the US, EU, G-8, and now NATO are paying to Africa is unprecedented and continues to grow. Why? It is necessary to a post 9/11 security environment to pay attention to what we are calling “ungoverned spaces”. This concept is at the center of a strategic paradigm shift on US foreign policy where soft power can be a key player. This article is about Africa in the context of ungoverned space, focused on the security environment and on the concept of ungoverned space, providing specific examples. From there, it underlines the ways in which we are seeking to reduce ungoverned areas and the military tools we can use toward that end. Africa is now a higher priority than it was 10-15 years ago. The bottom line is that an international system of willing and able partners – that exercise effective sovereignty – bolsters our security. The objective is for the footprint of governance to match the footprint of effective sovereignty. If one of the  biggest threats of the 21st century involves the nexus between terrorists who seek to harm us and the most dramatic and effective means by which they can do so – accessing and moving weapons of mass destruction – Africa provides enough ungoverned space to be of major concern.