By Patrick Fox, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow

Africa will become increasingly critical to the international community over the next several decades. However, even as its population and economies grow, security crises on the continent remain resilient or worsening. The modern American approach to security in Africa is insufficient and must be reworked. Africans want ownership over their own affairs and ownership over their own security, but they are dependent on ineffective American security policies. This paper analyzes how current American approaches to security exacerbate conflict and presents a new approach to American security assistance that will allow Africa to develop its own self-sufficient security institutions.