Obama, AFRICOM and Militarization of Africa

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Can Barack Obama make a decisive break with the path set in Africa by the Bush administration?

The narrator, Rageh Omaar, travels to the US and through East and West Africa to investigate the US new strategy for the continent.

What is AFRICOM?

AFRICOM was created last October by the Bush administration. It grew from the conflict between the Pentagon and State Department for control of foreign policy, which the Pentagon won. Its emphasis on military training and military solutions. This has vast implications for the continent of Africa, the people who live there, and for the American people and their relationship with the world.

AFRICOM is US command based in Africa to carry out US foreign policy in African and to training and supporting US partners in African.

Initially, US unilaterally created five World Command bases in 2007, that is USNORTHCOM, USSOUTHCOM, USEUCOM, USCENTCOM and USPACOM. Africa was divided between USEUCOM, USCENTCOM and USPACOM. In which USAFRICOM was later curved out, except for Egypt which still remain under USCENTCOM, and was formally established as a temporary command under the wing of U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and launched in October 1, 2008. USAFRICOM headquarters is based in Stuttgart, Germany till 2012.(AFRICOM website). There is still controversy where is going to be AFRICOM final Head quarter in Africa. So far, Ghana, Djibouti and Gabon and Liberia are been serious considered.