The Political Economy of US Security Assistance to Africa: A Research Agenda

Abstract

Much of the literature on US security assistance focuses on national/strategic/international security interests, but little attention is paid to economic incentives driving this aspect of US foreign policy. This briefing paper aims to fill that gap by proposing a research agenda that draws connections between economic and security interests and seeks to explain economic determinants of US security assistance to Africa. My methodological approach involves examining US national economic interests, recipient country economic interests, and the interests of industry groups doing business in Africa. Such an approach reveals connections not immediately obvious without viewing security relations through a political economy lens. The US’s twin interests of global peace and security and uninterrupted oil supply align with those of the oil industry and private security contractors. Applying this approach could help us understand puzzling US-Africa relationships, such as the US-Uganda security relationship, which is heavily influenced by the need to root out the recalcitrant rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army.