We divide up military responsibility for the globe with unified commands who plan for action in their area, build relations, and wage the fight if one comes in their region.
We are considering making Africa the responsiblity of its own unified command. Should we?
As we increase our relations with African states and possibly set up warm bases in the other Gulf to watch the region, this might be a good idea.
Right now, forces come largely under the command of European Command, as I mentioned in this article in Military Review regarding how we should configure the Army there.
Still, some regions of Africa should probably remain under CENTCOM or EUCOM responsibility. Keep the Horn, Sudan, and Egypt in CENTCOM. And keep Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco under EUCOM. And Madagascar for PACOM.
But given that it makes sense to keep some of Africa in other commands, maybe SOUTHCOM should just absorb the central and southern Africa region instead of adding another unified command. That makes more sense to me than a new command as my initial impression.
About Me
- Brian J. Dunn
- I live and write in Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan AB and MA from Eastern Michigan University. One term in the Michigan Army National Guard. Former American history instructor and retired nonpartisan research analyst. I write on Blogger and Substack. Various military and private journals have published my occasional articles on military subjects. See "My Published Works" on the TDR web version or under the mobile version drop-down menu for citations and links.
