Regional Security

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF USA AND DEFENSE AND SECURITY ENGAGEMENTS WITH WESTAFRICAN COUNTRIES

By Col Sampson Kudjo Adeti 1 ()

Before the Cold War, the United States had virtually no interest in , 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 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.

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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.

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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 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. 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 (SEABEES). e. Increasing 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 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

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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 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 participants from the Ministry of Defense, other government ministries, members of Parliament and representatives from academia also participated in the seminars. h. Training Opportunities for US Personnel Since 1997, when I was a student at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, US Army Officers have attended Peace Support Operations (PSO) Course. Reports indicate that these officers were so impressed by the quality of education – provided by the Ghanaian faculty with vast real-life peace support operations experiences – that there was increased demand by various components of the US military to attend the course in the future. The possibility of having US military personnel train on a regular basis at the GAF School, recognized as one of the world’s best, is also being explored. i. Transfer of Military Equipment Ghana receives military equipment from a variety of sources, including the United States. The country also purchases from the US though, typically, after the US has granted Ghana credit through the Foreign Military Financing facility. A Coast Guard buoy tender was transferred to the Ghana Navy fleet in May 2001 and an additional buoy tender as well as two patrol boats were transferred in 2002 under the Excess Defense Article Program. 3. Assessment The prospect of future and continued American interest in Africa is very high as enduring political and economic interests exist for the US on the continent. The foregoing emphasis international cooperation as an indispensable ingredient; whether the strategy is focused on fighting the war against terrorism, sustaining regional stability, expanding trade and development, maintaining friendly ties with global powers or dealing with transnational challenges. America’s defense and security engagement promotes regional stability

78 Defense Forum Autumn 2013 地区安全 through a variety of ways. Through these types of engagements, the US has gained critical regional access and developed an alliance absolutely essential to its national security, which are consistent with its deep seated foreign and defense policies. Several trends in US policy are note-worthy; it is moving from give- away programs. Programs now emphasize training capacity and institutional development. The keystones of this approach are the focus on the training- the-trainer concept and foreign military sales, providing equipment and materials for training institutions. It also wants to encourage self-sufficiency and the development of effective regional organizations so that nations can effectively address their problems and those of their neighbors through their own organizations. Thus, over the last two decades, Ghana has been the beneficiaryof increased United States’ support in aids and grants in several defense and security fields, thereby raising professional standards. It is most likely that US engagement with the Ghana Armed Forces will increase and be strengthened in the coming years. It is hoped that the goal now is to ensure that this new partnership between the two countries will contribute to military professionalism, prosperity, peace and stability essential for economic growth and prosperity. President Obama’s visit to Ghana, as the first country in Africa in March 2009, epitomizes the positive light in which the US has placed Ghana on its radar.

II. Defense and Security Cooperation between China and West African Countries Generally and Ghana in Particular

1. Sino-African Relations The establishment of modern Sino-African relations dates back to the late 1950s, reflective of China's foreign policy in general when China signed the first official bilateral trade agreement with Algeria, Egypt, Guinea, Somalia, Morocco and Sudan. Indeed, cooperation in medical fields – medical teams and anti-malaria efforts – started in 1963 as part of the South-South cooperation and China’s official development assistance.11 Ostensibly, Zhou Enlai’s ten-country tour to Africa between December 1963 and January 1964 and the announcement of the Eight Principles Guiding China’s Assistance to Africa was aimed at reinforcing the “dawn of the era of Chinese international defense and security cooperation with Africa”. Between June and September 2001 there were significant visits by Chinese military delegations to West Africa. General Liang Guanglie, (then Lieutenant

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General and Commander of Shenyang Military Area Command), Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), General Wu Quanxu; and General Chi Haotian, Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, then State Councilor and Defense Minister, visited Nigeria. “China’s gift to Africa”, the $200 million new headquarters building of the African Union in Addis Ababa, , completed in 2011, is perhaps the latest manifestation of support for the continent. These overtures are widely considered a positive-sum game. Whilst some Western countries have labeled it a “deeply unequal relationship”, South African President Jacob Zuma, in July 2012, said that the unbalanced nature of Africa’s escalating trade ties with China was “unsustainable” in the long term”. Shogo Suzuki claims that the criticism is sparked by, “fears of challenges to Western/US primacy which has resulted in myopia and fantasy.” China insists that Sino-African relations are mutually beneficial; as Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi asserts: “China and African countries are good brothers, good friends and good partners”. On the 50th anniversary of China-African diplomatic ties celebrations in January 2006, attended by representatives of 47 African countries, then Chinese State Councilor, Tang Jiaxuan, stated: “Given our all-weather relationship, genuine cooperation and fraternal affection, China and Africa are good friends, sincere partners and affectionate brothers”. In comparison to the western world, geostrategically, Jin Canrong has revealed that China’s approach to development is different from that of the western powers because it seeks to develop through taking part in the “international division of labor and undertaking responsibilities proactively rather than predatory colonization and militarization”. In 2004, China deployed around 1,500 in and the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the UN umbrella. Since then it has become the largest ‘P5’ country involved in peacekeeping operations, deploying medical, engineers, logistics and personnel; nearly three-quarters of China’s contributions are concentrated in Africa. This development might be in fulfillment of Mao Zedong’s pledge to Africa in 1971 soon after recovering China’s legal UN status, when he said: “it is the black brothers who have helped us re-enter the UN, so we must join in the UN or otherwise we will be estranged from them”. Apart from these efforts, China provides military training and equipment to a few countries. Ironically, the rise of China as a contributor to UN peacekeeping operations has proved less important than it first seemed currently with fewer than 2,000 troops under UN

80 Defense Forum Autumn 2013 地区安全 command “lagging behind such perceived military giants as Ghana”. 2. Ghan-China Defense and Security Relations Over half a century of Ghana-China political and economic cooperation started with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on 5th July 1960. Since then, the two countries have progressively developed very cordial and productive relations to their mutual benefit. The relations have, over the years, been nurtured and deepened through the frequent exchange of official visits at various levels by both tates and non-state actors. Following pragmatic political and economic surges, the last two decades was a particularly active period for Chinese military diplomacy in the region. There has been a flurry of visits by senior Chinese officials resulting in far- reaching bilateral official pronouncements vowing strengthened defense and security cooperation. a. High Profile Visits China’s recent increased political and economic engagement in Ghana is replicated in bilateral defense and security cooperation. Defense and security engagements have therefore become invaluable in this dispensation. For example, all Ministers of Defense since 1997 have visited China; Honorable Col EKT Donkor (1997 and 2000), Honorable Lt Gen JH Smith (2010 and 2011) and Honorable MO Woyongo (May 2013). The Chief of Army Staff (1998 and 2012) and the Chief of the Defense Staff (2012) have also paid extensive visits and meeting their Chinese counterparts. Reciprocally, the Political Commissar of the Nanjing Military Region, Gen Fang Zuqi (in 1998), the Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister, General Liang Guang Lie, accompanied by a high-powered delegation of about 15 Generals of the PLA, on a three-day visit to 22 -24 November 2011,3 expressed willingness to “attach great importance to developing and strengthening the friendly military cooperation and relationship between the armed forces of the two countries and support each other in international affairs”.4 b. Infrastructural Development Another area where significant footprints of Chinese support for the GAF is in infrastructural upgrade in the Armed Forces. Major infrastructure construction during the last decade in particular is a US$ 6.75 million four-

3 http://newtimes.com.gh/story/chinese-call-on-defence-minister (Accessed 14 Feb 13). 4 Ibid.

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storey office of the Ministry of Defense and a 1000-capacity main auditorium of the GAF and some barracks accommodation for troops.5 c. Training of Officers, Men and Women of GAF China has opened its military institutions to personnel from the GAF making it possible for increased understanding of political, economic, social and most importantly, military professional ethos. Others have also gone through Staff Colleges of the three services, and many officers, men and women have learned on many professional courses at the various arms during the period. By the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Ghana and China ten service personnel attended various courses during the 2011/2012 training cycle. This number increased significantly to about 25 in the next cycle. A cursory investigation reveals that these numbers are nowhere close to other benefactor countries such as South Africa, Sudan and Nigeria, just to mention these few. d. Supply of Strategic Equipment A huge area of defense and security cooperation has been the supply of military hardware; a paradigm shift from the traditional sources of Europe and America. These include artillery and anti-aircraft guns in the 1990s, with accompanying training packages. In July 2011, four (4) made in China fast patrol boats were delivered to the Ghana Navy.6 Strategic combat and combat support vehicles including Armored Personnel carriers, engineering machines and equipment, communications; and other equipment and clothing have been supplied to our units deployed on Peace Support Operations around the world. The has also enhanced its equipment stock by the purchase of fighter aircrafts and spare parts. On the occasion of the visit of the Gen Liang Guanglie, mentioned earlier, China donated 20 Million RMB to the GAF for the purchase of air defense equipment, artillery guns, troop carrying vehicles, buses, trucks and spare parts. Further, some personnel from sister internal security services such as the and the Ghana Immigration Service have also been buying some clothing and equipment from China. 3. Assessment It is obvious that China is ready to carry on its traditional friendship to forge a new type of strategic partnership with Africa featuring political

5 http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/information/press-releases (Accessed 22 Feb 13). 6 http://www.gbcghana.com/index.php?id=1.79005395; http://www.modernghana.com/news/266766 /1/ defender-class-boats-for-ghana-navy.html (Accessed 5Apr 13).

82 Defense Forum Autumn 2013 地区安全 equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchange. Tremendous opportunities remain for improvement in all areas of defense and security cooperation. China and Africa conducted more frequent consultation and cooperation in international affairs in recent times. China supported the leading role of the African Union in African affairs, the implementation of the New Partnership of African Development, and Africa’s reasonable requirements in multilateral organizations such as in the WTO and the UN. In fact, the institutionalization of FOCAC as a platform for cooperation is useful in addressing outstanding defense and security issues. Apart from visits, there are no significant direct military-to-military engagements-joint exercises, humanitarian assistance-between Ghana and China. Given their evident assistance and support, cooperation between China and West Africa holds huge potential which can be further harnessed and expanded. There is no indication that Chinese foreign and defense policies are packaged to influence the defense policy of the Ghana Armed Forces; in any case this will not be possible in very of the nations’ capacity, resilient as it is, to be tailored to favor Chinese national interests. However, the Armed Forces should continue to take maximum advantage of all assistance program and projects, being extended and implemented by the Chinese Government.

III. Comparison of US and China Defense and Security Relations with West Africa/Ghana

Both China and the US defense and security cooperation hinge on the principles of interdependence and cooperation. US has significant representation in Ghana, assisting in frequent and regular dialogue and deliberations that feed into Washington’s strategic decision making on defense and security cooperation. The Office of Defense and Security Cooperation, with qualified military and civilian professionals, plays a remarkable role in these issues. China does not have such an office. Within the same periods of time, US have practiced greater military diplomacy than China. US defense and security cooperation is more widespread involving direct training of several categories of personnel in mainland US and also in host countries–individual, sub-unit, collective, joint/combined exercises, sponsoring peace support operations training and logistics enablers. China

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presently is more focused on training foreign friends in China. US support for infrastructural development over the longer time that it has been involved with Ghana has rather been limited. On the other hand, the last two decades has seen significant infrastructural projects and acquisition of strategic equipment for the GAF from China. Although China’s approach towards development co-operation replicates the more traditional multilayered format, it differs quite significantly from more typical Western patterns in two aspects. The first one has to do with the fact that China is a developing country itself and as such co-operation with other developing regions falls within the category of South-South co- operation, which allows for a two-way benefit approach. Secondly, China’s co-operation comes with no political conditions attached, a product of its non- interference and equality ideational legacy.

Edited by Md Shawkat Ali and Wang Bin

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