Africa Center for Strategic Studies

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Washington, DC—Five new U.S. military attachés assigned to African countries visited the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) on Dec. 2, 2011. They will soon be deployed to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ghana, and Nigeria.

ACSS staff and faculty briefed them on the Center’s mission, annual program plan and the well-established working relationships the center has cultivated with attachés already assigned to Africa.  Attachés and Security Cooperation Officers are critical to the Center’s  success in   developing programming and assisting the center in coordinating participant participation and running our Africa based programs.

During the briefing, the ACSS deputy Director, Michael Garrison, welcomed the new attachés to the Center and expressed the center’s gratitude for the service to our nation and the support they will eventfully provide to the Africa Center.  ACSS staff representing the departments of academic affairs, research, community affairs, and operations also informed the incoming attachés of past and existing ACSS alumni programs in their respective countries as well as possible opportunities to engage with ACSS alumni.

The Africa Center wishes these new attachés great success in their upcoming assignments and looks forward to working closely with them.

Nine African defense attachés and six civilian officials holding security-related portfolios at embassies in Washington, D.C., attended the Africa Center for Strategic Studies-sponsored African Defense Attaché Seminar Nov. 16-20 at National Defense University. The annual seminar acquaints newly-assigned African defense attachés and embassy personnel with the structures and workings of the U.S. Government and its security policies and programs pertaining to Africa. Ambassador William M. Bellamy (ret.), the Africa Center’s Director, welcomed the participants and presented an overview of Center’s mission, goals, vision, and academic and outreach programs. He said he hoped the seminar would provide the participants with a better understanding of the intricacies of the U.S. Government. Seminar participants included representatives from the: Embassy of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria; Embassy of the Republic of Botswana; Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon; Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; Embassy of the Gabonese Republic; Embassy of the Republic of Ghana; Embassy of the Republic of Kenya; Embassy of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Embassy of the Republic of Malawi; Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco; Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Embassy of the Republic of Senegal; Embassy of the Republic of South Africa; Embassy of the Republic of Uganda. According to Brad Gutierrez, Ph.D., Academic Chair of Security Studies at the Africa Center and faculty lead for the seminar, as African defense attachés and embassy personnel begin their duties in the U.S., they face a broad range of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and a complex set of interactions that affect U.S. Government security policies and programs relating to Africa. “An early familiarization with the U.S. Government and other organizations, and relationships within and among them,” Dr. Gutierrez said, “enables seminar participants to accomplish their duties more effectively and better articulate their countries’ interests and concerns to appropriate officials and organizations. The seminar was conducted primarily through plenary and question-and-answer sessions with various experts and representatives from the U.S. Government, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations. Sessions included overviews of U.S. interests, policies, and programs in Africa; the role of the U.S. Congress in policy-making; and the roles that nongovernmental organizations and think tanks play in policy development. Other periods dealt with the Interagency process; security assistance mechanisms; and U.S.-U.N. roles, relations, and peacekeeping. In addition to classroom activities, and to reinforce the concepts addressed during the seminar and broaden practical application, sessions about the Departments State and Defense coincided with field trips to these institutions to facilitate in-depth discussions about issues of interest to seminar participants and to introduce them to key personnel who address Africa-related issues. At the Department of State, seminar participants discussed Africa policy issues with Laura Griesmer, Deputy Director of the Africa Bureau’s Office of Regional and Security Affairs; U.S. Army Colonel Mike Skardon, Military Advisor to the Africa Bureau; and Scott Fisher, Operations Advisor for the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance Program. The participants then had an opportunity to meet with their respective Department of State country desk officers. Ambassador Vicki Huddleston (ret.), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, welcomed the participants to the Pentagon. The first visit to the Pentagon for many of the participants, Ambassador Huddleston answered their questions about U.S. Africa Command and U.S. policy towards Africa. She also discussed the objective of providing African nations and regional organizations with an integrated Department coordination point to help address security and related needs.

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Description

This seminar is designed to acquaint African Defense Attachés and African embassy personnel with security portfolios who are newly assigned to the U.S., with the structures and workings of the U.S. government, and with U.S. security policies and programs pertaining to the African continent.

Audience

Newly assigned African Defense Attachés and local African embassy personnel with security portfolios assigned to the Washington, D.C. area.

News and Course Documents

2012

• African Defense Attaché Seminar, Washington DC (February 2012)
• Africa Center for Strategic Studies completes its African Defense Attaché Seminar (February 8, 2012)
• Ambassador Holmes Discusses AFRICOM Role at ACSS Defense Attaché Seminar (February 8, 2012)
• Major General Leins Discusses Joint Chiefs of Staff at ACSS Defense Attaché Seminar (February 9, 2012)
• Coming Event: Africa Center for Strategic Studies to Hold African Defense Attaché Seminar (February 3, 2012)
• View photos from the event

2010

• African Defense Attaché Seminar, Washington DC (February 2012)
• African Defense Attachés Briefed on U.S. Policy Priorities in Africa (Dec. 8, 2010)
• View photos from the event

2009

• African Defense Attaché Seminar, Washington DC (February 2009)
• African Defense Attachés and Embassy Officials Attend Weeklong Seminar (Published: Dec. 4, 2009)
• Program Schedule (Nov. 2009) [PDF]
• View photos from this event

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