AFRICOM: Progress, Challenges and Prospects

Date:	March 24, 2008
Time:	10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Speaker(s):	PANEL 1 – WHERE DOES AFRICOM STAND? INTERAGENCY INTEGRATION AND STANDING UP THE COMMAND Theresa Whelan Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense Lauren Ploch Africa Analyst, Congressional Research Service Tom Donnelly Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Sean McFate Program Director for the National Security Initiative, Bipartisan Policy Center PANEL 2 – THE FOREIGN POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF AFRICOM Edwin Sele Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Liberia Ambassador Usman Baraya Embassy of Nigeria Louis Mazel Director, Office of African Regional and Security Affairs, U.S. Department of State Guillaume Lacroix Counselor, Embassy of France
Host(s):	Brett D. Schaefer Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs, The Margaret Thatcher for Freedom, The Heritage Foundation and Mackenzie Eaglen Senior Policy Analyst for National Security, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Details:
Location: The Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium Africa is no longer a distant region whose instability and problems can be ignored by the United States. In recognition of Africa's rising importance, President George W. Bush announced on February 6, 2007, that the United States will create a new, unified combatant command for Africa (AFRICOM) to oversee security, enhance strategic cooperation, build partnerships, support nonmilitary missions, and conduct military operations as necessary. The unique challenges facing Africa led the Administration to set up a new type of command for the continent incorporating officials from other U.S. agencies. Six months after AFRICOM was officially established in October 2007 many questions remain about its mission, how smoothly the process to set up the new command is proceeding, how it will affect U.S. foreign and national security policy, and how it will affect America’s relationships with African nations. Join us as our distinguished panelists discuss these issues.