US Security Concerns in Africa: An Afrocentric Perspective

Abstract

This qualitative article employs an Afrocentric perspective as an alternative theoretical and/or contextual lens to provide an overview of the national security challenges facing the United States of America (US) within the context of its engagement in Africa. It also demonstrates the reactions of the US to African security threats (real or imagined) to its national well-being. At the centre of the discussion of this article is the articulation of the main issues about the US National Security Strategy in relation to Africa. The objective is to unravel the myth that Africa is a threat to the US national security and the reality about its dismissed importance to US within the context of the current global discourse on security. In order to provide a wider context for understanding the security dimension of the US foreign policy as it relates to Africa and to foster epistemic justice, it is important to address this subject from the viewpoint of Africans and others whose fate is tied to this continent.