http://www.turkishweekly.net/columnist/3905/reflections-on-the-agreement-between-washington-and-djibouti.html
Reflections on the Agreement between Washington and Djibouti
10 September 2014
By Fouad Farhaoui
Last May, Djibouti President Ismail Omer Guelleh met with US President
Barack Obama at the White House where they discussed issues related to the
economy, education, and health. Moreover, issues regarding terrorism and
development of military relations topped the agenda. One result of the
meeting was that both sides agreed on extending the lease on the American
military base Camp Lemonnier located in Djibouti.
Remarkably, this meeting took place after a hectic round of three tours
undertaken by US Secretary of State John Kerry that covered three regions
and wrapped up in April. The tour was the West Maghreb tour, which
consisted of Morocco and Algeria, followed by the Horn of Africa tour, in
which Kerry visited Ethiopia, and finally the Central Africa tour,
consisting of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. These visits
show that the military agreement between the USA and Djibouti came to the
agenda as a result of Washington’s desire to be involved in African
integration.
The Importance of the American Base in Djibouti
As is known, the US established the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of
Africa (CJTF-HOA) after 9/11 and then the United States Africa Command
(AFRICOM) in 2008, the former was later incorporated into the latter.
Concurrently, in return for 30 million dollars, Djibouti transferred
operation of Camp Lemonnier to the USA in order to accommodate the Combined
Joint Task Force. In this way, it was argued that the US’s activities in
the region could be more effective with its first direct military presence
in the Horn of Africa after failed military operations in Somalia during
the early 1990s under the command of the United Nations.
The initial mission granted to AFRICOM was to monitor security
developments, and terrorism and piracy activities. However, the American
base in Djibouti truly came to prominence after Washington’s overseas
military expansion in response to events in the Middle East, the withdrawal
of the US from Iraq, and also the chaotic events occurring as a result of
“Arab Spring”.
This situation can be elucidated by looking at a statement issued by Obama
after his meeting with Djibouti’s president, “Camp Lemonnier is
extraordinarily important to our work throughout the Horn of Africa but
also throughout the region.” In the beginning, the mission of the Combined
Joint Task Force was limited to operations within the borders of Sudan,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Seychelles, Comoros, South Sudan,
Uganda, and Somalia. After 2011, however, it expanded to include Chad, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Tanzania, and Yemen.
This means that the activities originating from the American base in
Djibouti can be located along three major geographical axes. The first axis
spans from the Horn of Africa down the coast to sub-Saharan Africa. The
second axis traces the east coast of Africa, excluding Egypt and the
Republic of South Africa, which respectively constitute the northern and
southern tips of Africa’s eastern coastline. It is observed that this axis
is of great significance because its geography hosts two straits which are
of critical global importance. The first strait is the Strait of
Bab-el-Mandeb that connects the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean to the
Mediterranean via the Red Sea. The second is the Mozambique Channel which
has started to play a significant role in international trade
transportation. Also, on the East African coastal axis, there are a
plethora of strategically important islands such as the Seychelles and
Mauritius. The third axis begins in the Horn of Africa and extends down
Central Africa to the African Great Lakes region.
The Pillars of Military Relations between the USA and Djibouti
When American policies directed at East Africa are carefully examined, it
can be stated that there are 4 strategic pillars of American-Djiboutian
military relations. These are, fighting against terrorism, securing sea
transport routes, developing the military capacities of Djiboutian soldiers
to secure land borders, and training of Djiboutian forces to join the UN
Peace Protection Force. The American government articulated these pillars
as the grounds for Congress to increase the amount of aid allotted to
Djibouti from the 2015 budget.
Focusing on the regional and international aspects of the military
agreement between America and Djibouti, it is possible to boil the
relations down to the desire of Washington to control some African crises
which threaten American interests and decrease the country’s influence. For
example, the current crisis in the Republic of South Sudan poses the risk
of sabotaging all efforts of the United Nations to rebuild the state and of
laying waste to great investment opportunities in the country’s energy
resources, mines, and agriculture and infrastructure sectors. The crisis
taking place in Central Africa threatens the stability of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Uganda, which are counted as some of the most
important allies of Washington in the region.
Military Bases: Rivalry between the USA, its Western allies, and China.
Another aspect of America’s presence in Djibouti can be read with respect
to China’s growing influence on the continent. American dominance on the
East Coast of Africa provides it the ability to control Chinese expansion.
Beijing may attempt to build naval bases along this coast in an attempt to
complement its base in Pakistan, Gwadar Harbor, which came under the
control of China after it signed an agreement on the matter with Pakistan
in February 2013.
Since Washington is seeking to control the Gulf of Aden and the Mozambique
Channel, its presence around the waters of Seychelles and Mauritius enables
it to better observe Chinese movements in the Indian Ocean. This presence
also enables the USA to build a wider coalition with India, which is in
competition with China over dominance of the Indian Ocean. Likewise, it is
not a secret that Washington is willing to maintain its strategic influence
at the expense of its Western allies by proceeding with military expansion
in and around Djibouti. In fact, Djibouti is within France’s traditional
sphere of influence and it hosts one of France’s largest overseas military
bases.
This rivalry can also be seen in Chad’s participation in the Combined Joint
Task Force, which is perceived of as a negative development in Paris.
Current attempts of the USA to gain influence in South Sudan can be seen in
parallel to French attempts to do the same in Central Africa, which is seen
as a region traditionally falling under French influence. This situation
has witnessed Washington and Paris confront one another in their
competition for Central Africa.
France’s attempts to create a special 3,000-strong combat force that is
able to rapidly mobilize and pursue operations in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon
as a reaction to the Boko Haram movement’s kidnapping of 200 girls from a
school in Northeastern Nigeria should also be read in light of the above
context.
In short, the lease on the American base in Djibouti is of instrumental
importance for the USA in strengthening its presence in East Africa at a
time when it has been encountered with many difficulties in the Middle
East. At the same time, it is known that the US seeks to benefit from the
economic opportunities of the Central and East African countries,
especially those which possess rich energy and ore reserves. This pecuniary
reality further explains the continuance of rivalry in the region, even
among the Western allies.
JTW - the Journal of Turkish Weekly - is a respected Turkish news source in
English language on international politics. Established in 2004, JTW is
published by Ankara-based Turkish think tank International Strategic
Research Organization (USAK).
Received on Fri Sep 12 2014 - 08:16:58 EDT