U.S. Africa Command change of command held in Stuttgart, Germany, on Aug. 9, 2022. AFRICOM Photo
The first Black four-star Marine general assumed command of the U.S. Africa Command during a Tuesday ceremony in Germany. Read More
The U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command Commanding General Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli delivers a speech during the 7th Army Training Command change of command ceremony at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 2, 2021. U.S. Army
The nominee to be the next top commander of United States forces in Europe told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that he “looks forward to the accession” of Finland and Sweden to NATO to bolster the alliance’s defenses, particularly in the Baltic Sea and High North. Read More
A naval soldier of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) views through a pair of binoculars onboard China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning as it visits a military harbour on the South China Sea. Xinhua Photo
Australia has become “something of a test case” in China’s push to dominate the Indo-Pacific economically and militarily, the head of Australia’s National Security College said Monday. Read More
Members of a Brazilian Navy Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team participate in a drill aboard the Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) as part of Operation Guinex, Aug. 23, 2021. US Navy Photo
The small, rigid-hulled inflatable boat sped from the Brazilian Navy Frigate BNS Independencia (F-44) last week, taking an armed boarding team to a ship suspected of harboring illicit or piracy activities off western Africa’s coast. Read More
FS Charles de Gaulle (R91) deploying on Jan. 21, 2020 from Touloun, France. French Navy Photo
With a new American administration coming in January and the United Kingdom departing the European Union, France could be America’s new “bridge partner” to the continent in countering high-end military challenges from Moscow and Beijing and meeting reinvigorated terrorist threats, top security experts said Thursday. Read More
Master-at-Arms 1st Class Michael Welch, a tactical supervisor assigned to the Embarked Security Team deployed from Task Force 68 aboard the Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Carson City (T-EPF 7) stands watch as the ship departs Tema, Ghana, July 26, 2019. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON — The current African Partnership Station mission in the Gulf of Guinea aboard the USNS Carson City (T-EPF-7) seeks to help partner nations improve their security and prosperity, not to rival the economic encroachment of China in Africa, a leader of that mission said on Wednesday. Read More
ISIS forces in Iraq
The United States has exercised military, intelligence and law enforcement to counter violent extremism globally, but a new report from a Washington, D.C., think-tank calls for the incoming Donald Trump administration to also spend $1 billion on soft power to get at the root causes driving radicalization. Read More
Reuters Photo via Al Jazeera
The massive influx of Chinese immigrants and investment in Africa pose significant obstacles to U.S. development and counterterrorism efforts in the region. By preying upon the vulnerabilities of Africa’s many rentier states, Chinese endeavors exacerbate existing tensions over scarce natural resources, buttress corrupt regimes, and further entrench the status quo that has proven a fertile breeding ground for Islamist extremism. Read More
A Marine provides an over watch for Marines conducting vehicle inspections at the American Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, during a training exercise March 7, 2014. US Marine Corps Photo
The murder of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three Americans in his security detail during an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012 has created a new normal for the Marine Corps and new means to operate in the Middle East and Africa, the senior Marine at Central Command said on Wednesday. Read More
Cameroon navy Lt. j.g. Yves Itondo during Exercise Obangame Expressin February. The exercise is an at-sea maritime exercise designed to improve cooperation among participating nations to promote maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea. US Navy Photo
Portions of this article were first published with OCEANUS Live
Pity the Somali pirates, who after an abysmal year in 2012, have only managed to (unsuccessfully) attack two vessels thus far in 2013. Piracy is now much more lucrative in West Africa, where there have been at least 10 reported attacks in the past month alone. In the waters of Nigeria, a dozen mariners from three separate vessels were kidnapped by pirates during a single 10-day period. Côte d’Ivoire had never witnessed the hijacking and large-scale robbery of an oil tanker before October 2012, but already has had two such vessels pilfered from its waters this year. Read More
