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Comparative Study of Usa and China Defense and Security Engagements with Westafrican Countries

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Comparative Study of Usa and China Defense and Security Engagements with Westafrican Countries Regional Security COMPARATIVE STUDY OF USA AND CHINA DEFENSE AND SECURITY ENGAGEMENTS WITH WESTAFRICAN COUNTRIES By Col Sampson Kudjo Adeti 1 (Ghana) Before the Cold War, the United States had virtually no interest in Africa, let alone West Africa. The end of the Cold War brought dramatic changes in America’s position in the international system leading to a paradigm shift of the assumptions that guided foreign policy for nearly half a century. The unfortunate events of 11th September 2001 may have been the “tippings and trappings” of a new approach to US engagement in Africa. The National Security Strategy had acknowledged that “Africa is important to peace and security worldwide and will receive all necessary help from the US aimed at furthering its overall political and economic development”. Ghana is perceived as one of the “key states” in the West African sub- region, and therefore is being used in the study as a platform of US and Chinese defense and security engagements in the region. Recently, US reluctance at having significant defense and security cooperation with Ghana seems to have abated. The strategic partnership between the two countries have developed significantly over the past two decades and is currently at an all-time high. Remarkably, China’s military engagements with key West African countries have also increased especially within the past decade through several high profile visits. Having consolidated positions of “a harmonious society” on the domestic front and espoused a policy of “a harmonious world” internationally, China has come into shape focus as a force to contend with. 1 Col Sampson Kudjo Adeti from Ghana, participant of the 30th Defense and Strategic Studies Course, NDU, China. 74 Defense Forum Autumn 2013 地区安全 I. Defense and Security Cooperation between USA and West African Countries Generally and Ghana in Particular 1. US-Africa Relations Individual African countries have had various degrees of economic, political and military relationships with the US. Other factors such as the idiosyncrasies and perceptions of the leadership of these countries and certain immutable dynamics of the international system have also played significant parts in these relationships. During the Cold War, African leaders often were able to use US-Soviet competition as a bargaining tool to obtain substantial increases in economic and military aid. However, political changes in Eastern Europe and the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union continued to dominate the agenda of the US policy making establishment, Africans rightly begun to question what this meant in terms of future US attention. According to Michael Clough, a senior fellow for Africa at the Council on Foreign Relations, this resulted in a policy of “cynical disengagement” in which policy makers are guided by three principles: (i) Do not spend much money unless Congress makes you. (ii) Do not let African issues to complicate policy towards other more important parts of the world. (iii) Do not take stands that might create political controversies in the United States”. After 11th September 2001, the US State Department International Military Education and Training (IMET) training programme intensified its activities by training officers from 130 countries including countries from Africa and, hence, has become a key component in Bush’s war on terrorism. In March 2002, the administration identified 19 countries including Ghana and Nigeria who are allies in the fight against terrorism as eligible for training programmes. More recently, the United States has made active efforts to deepen its involvement in the dynamics of several African countries through the establishment of a US African Command (AFRICOM)-guided capacity- building of key states and partnerships known as the “steady-state theater security cooperation” policy. 2013 年第 2 期 防务论坛 75 Regional Security 2. US Military Engagement with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) Ghana’s formal relations with the US began in 1957 immediately after the former’s independence from British colonial rule. For many years, US-Ghana military relations replicated the rather poor political relations at the time. The US–Ghana strategic military partnership has increased significantly over the past decades and is currently at an all-time high since the US Embassy’s resident US Defense Attaches Office was re-established in 1998. Since then, the level of military engagement and operational initiative between US and the Ghana Armed Forces has continued to grow and strengthen in the areas such as provision and transfer of equipment, joint military training exercises and humanitarian activities. a. Training of Officers, Men and Women of the Ghana Armed Forces Training of officers and men at various military institutions in the United States has been a constant feature of Ghana-US military interaction. Ghana is consistently one of Africa’s top recipients of IMET funding. In the past three decades, whether it is basic or advanced courses for officers, either from the Army, Navy or Air Force, the US has provided substantial financial and logistic support to enable Ghanaian officers participate in such courses. Whilst in 1987, fewer than 20 GAF officers and other ranks received IMET training in the US, that figure jumped to nearly 80 and 100 in 1998 and 2001 respectively. From a funding level of 250,000 dollars in 1997, Ghana received 400,000 and 450,000 dollars in IMET funds during 2000 and 2001 respectively.2 Ghanaian officers have also learnt a variety of tactical and strategic force employment concepts consistent with US military doctrine that can result in effective international cooperation and partnership. Such courses have benefited both the individual and the GAF immensely. It is remarkable that the majority of the GAF’s senior leadership, has, at one time or another, attended a US Military school. b. Combined Training and Bilateral Exercises As there is no permanent stationing of US forces in the country, apart from the defense attaché officials, security assistance officers and marine embassy guards, combined training exercises provide useful military-to- military contacts. Military professionals thinks that this is perhaps, the most “traditional” form of military cooperation between nations. The US has sent teams to Ghana to train GAF personnel in various disciplines under the Joint Combined Exchanges and Training (JCET) Program. US trainers also learn 2 Amannee, June 2001, p3. 76 Defense Forum Autumn 2013 地区安全 valuable in-country experience and much about GAF methods of operation. As US trainers also teaches US practice, thereby reinforcing the theory of cooperation and interdependency. c. Ghana Army Training Exercises GAF and the US military conducted combined exercises in November 2001, in which over 700 US troops worked with GAF on a West African Training Cruise (WATC) focuses on various naval and aircraft activities including oil spill response scenario and fisheries enforcement exercises. At the same time, approximately 50 US Navy medical reservists from the Fleet Hospital Dallas worked with GAF medical personnel in Ghana. The exercise presented GAF medical personnel with the opportunity to learn about US military medical equipment and techniques, while providing US personnel with the opportunity to work with patients who have ailments unique to tropical environments. d. Ghana Navy Training Exercises The WATC is the US Navy’s annual naval presence mission to African coastal states. It provides opportunities for professional interaction between US Navy, Coast Guard and the Marine personnel and maritime forces of the countries visited. It also increases the US Navy’s familiarity with maritime environment of the area and promotes goodwill through community relations work projects, donated medical and hygiene supplies and more extensive construction and/or repair projects performed by the US Navy Construction Battalion (SEABEES). e. Increasing Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement Capacities The US is deeply engaged in a series of sustained programs and policies aimed at supporting the GAF through Operation FOCUS RELIEF and African Crises Response Initiative (ACRI), which later transitioned into the Africa Contingency Training Assistance (ACOTA) and the Enhanced International Peacekeeping Capabilities (EIPC) programs.The West African Stabilization Program (WASP) is another program evolved by the US aimed at standardizing peacekeeping doctrines and tactics of countries in the sub- region. f. Operation Atlas Response and Humanitarian Assistance and National Development In March and April 2000, the Government of Ghana made facilities available for US troops and aircraft involved in providing humanitarian assistance to flood victims in Mozambique. As follow-up to the very successful 1999 West African Training Cruise (WATC) exercise, a US Navy 2013 年第 2 期 防务论坛 77 Regional Security Construction Battalion (SEABEES) platoon spent three months in the year 2000 working with Ghana Army combat and civil engineers to build a clinic in Sekondi. The US Army Corps of Engineers has also supported Ghana Army Engineer biodiversity and tourism projects. g. Mobile Training Teams (MTTS) Security assistance MTTs enables US military personnel to train a group of Ghanaians in a particular set of subjects. The US Navy’s Defense Institute for International Legal Studies has consistently sponsored seminars and sent teams to Ghana on various civil-military matters. The training have been geared not only to GAF officers but civilian
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