Nothing Good EVAH Came From The "Garden" To The "Jungle"...,

SCMP  |  When US President Joe Biden released his national security strategy on Wednesday, the report did not mention Africa much – one brief discussion near the end on building “US-Africa partnerships” and a handful of other mentions scattered across the document’s 48 pages.

However, military analysts say the continent is not only on the US radar but is a major arena of competition with China and Russia.

The main thrust of the strategy continues a theme Biden has sounded since taking office last year: the US will focus on competing with China and containing Russia.

In Africa, Beijing has become the single largest trading partner and built mega infrastructure projects through its Belt and Road Initiative, while Moscow is the largest military arms supplier and its companies have invested heavily in the continent’s extractive industries.

“China and Russia understand very well Africa’s strategic significance,” Major General Todd Wasmund, commander of the US Southern European Task Force, Africa, told a discussion at the Association of the US Army’s annual conference on Monday.

“As the Army refocuses on China – our pacing challenge – as well as the acute threat posed by Russia, it’s important to recognise that both countries are actively competing in Africa.”

The US says it will outcompete China and Russia by investing at home, building a coalition of like-minded states, and modernising its military. According to the strategy, the US will “counter democratic backsliding by imposing costs for coups and pressing for progress on civilian transitions” and “push back on the destabilising impact of the Russia-backed Wagner Group”, the Moscow-based mercenary network.

“These are sensible priorities, but they’re also not surprising given Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which delayed the strategy for months, and America’s rising tensions with China, which date from well before Joe Biden became president,” Christopher S. Chivvis, the director of the American Statecraft programme at the Carnegie Endowment, said.

Wasmund discussed how the army used its training of African militaries through its 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade to ward off the growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.

“They are seeking to influence events on the continent in their favour using political influence, disinformation, economic leverage and malign military activity. We also know that violent extremist organisations are a persistent threat,” Wasmund said.