Violence in Africa After Over Ten Years of AFRICOM

Violence in the African continent plays a rather interesting role when tied into the military operations of the United States through AFRICOM.

The United States African Command (AFRICOM) has been around for over ten years since its establishment and activation on October 1, 2008. Its goal, according to the White House during the Bush Administration, was to “bring peace and security to the people of Africa” and to pursue the goals of “development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth”.

According to The Intercept, the amount of military personnel in Africa since the inception of AFRICOM has “jumped 170 percent” and the amount of “military missions, activities, programs, and exercises there has risen 1,900 percent, from 172 to 3,500”. They also reported the fact that the number of drone strikes have increased substantially since 2008, especially in the country of Libya.

AFRICOM states to “promote regional security, stability and prosperity”, but according to a recent study done by the Pentagon, this is far from the case. The study done by the Africa Center for Research Studies, an “academic institution within the U.S. Department of Defense”, has consistently researched the amount of militant Islamist activity since 2010. Recent studies show that the amount of “militant Islamist group activity in Africa doubled since 2012”.