The Extent of Al-Qaeda’s Presence in Africa: Security Threats and Policy Implications to the U.S.
Abstract
Following a period close to fifteen years of fighting the extremist terrorist group Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the United States (US) is faced with diverse security threats from affiliates of Al Qaeda in Africa. This study explores the extent of Al Qaeda’s presence in Africa, security threat and policy implications to the US. A qualitative methodology through document analysis and informed by the interpretivist research paradigm was employed. With Al Qaeda’s continued growth, there could be nuclear terrorism, arms and drug trafficking among other threats. Policy recommendations are given for the United States of America.
Downloads
References
Adesoji, A. (2010). The Boko Haram Uprising and Islamic Revivalism in Nigeria. Africa Spectrum, 45(2), 95-108.
Adom, D., Yeboah, A., & Ankrah, A. K. ()ctober 2016). Constructivism Philosophical Paradigm : Implications for Reasearch, Teaching and Learning. Global Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(10), 1-9.
AFRICOM. (2017, March 9). United States Africa Command 2017 Posture Statement. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from <http://www.africom.mil/media-room/document/28720/africom-2017-posture-satement>
AFRICOM. (2018, May 2). United States Africa Command Posture Statement. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from http://www.africom.mil/media-room/document/30467/u-s-africa-command-posture-statement
Agbiboa, D. (2014). Terrorism Without Borders: Somalia’s Al-Shabaab and the Global Jihad Network. Journal of Terrorism Research, 5(1), 29-31.
Al-Hayat. (2010, August 20). A Deal Reached with Al-Qa’idah in the Arab Maghreb.
Al-Pessin. (2007, April 23). African Officials Express Concern About U.S Africa Command Plan. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2007/04/mil–0704,
al-Shishani, M. B. (2010). Salafi-Jihadis in Mauritania at the Center of Al-Qaeda’s Strategy. Terrorism Monitor.
AMM. (2010, October 2). Boko Haram Releases Eid Al-Fitr Address Via Al-Qaeda in North Africa’s Media Division Calling on Muslims to Wage Jihad. Arabic Media Monitor.
Baldauf, S. (2009, December 27). Al Qaida Rises in West Africa. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2009/1228/Al Qaida-rises-in-West-Africa
Bergen, P. (2002). Holy War. New York: Free Press.
Boettcher, M., & Arnesen, I. (2002, January 24). Al Qaeda Documents Outline Serious Weapons Program. Retrieved from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/US/01/24/inv.al.qaeda.documents/index.html?_s=PM:US
Brechenmeier, S., & Feldstein, S. (2017, October 18). Trump’s War on Terror. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from National Interest: <https://nationalinterest.org/feature/trumps-war-terror-22783
Burke, J. (2004). Al-Qaida. London: I.B. Taurus.
Byman, D. (2010, December 7). Al Qaeda’s M & A Strategy. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from Brookings Institution: https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/al-qaedas-ma-strategy
Callimachi, R., Cooper, H., Schmitt, E., Binder, A., & Gibbons-Neff, T. (2018, February 20). An Endless War: Why 4 US Soldiers Died in a Remote African Desert. Retrieved February 3, 2020, from New York Times: <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/17/world/africa/niger-ambush-american-soldiers
CFR. (2007, April 11). "The Pentagon’s New Africa Command" meeting with Admiral Robert Moeller and Ambassador Robert Loftus. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/publications/13348/–25k
Cohen, H. (March-April 2007). The U.S. Military’s New Africa Command. Peace Operations 2, no. 5.
CTC-Report. (n.d). Al Qaida’s Misadventures in the Horn of Africa. Retrieved February 13, 2020, from Combating Terrorism Center: http://ctc.usma.edu
Daly, J. (2005, March 24). Libya and Al-Qaeda: A Complex Relationship. Terrorism Monitor.
DS. (2005, April 30). Chapter 8; Other Groups of Concern. Country Reports on Terrorism. US Department of State.
FBI. (2011, June). Executive Summary of FBI’s Investigation into the Embassy Bombings. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/bombings/summary.html
Ferguson, C. D., & Potter, W. C. (2004). The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism. Monterey, CA: The Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Forest, J. (September 2011). Al-Qaeda's Influence in Sub-Saharan Africa Myths, Realities and Possibilities. Perspectives on Terrorism, 5(3 Special Double Issue on Terrorism and Political Violence in Africa), 63-80. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26298524
GPO. (2004). The 9/11 Commission Report. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Griffin, C. (2018). Trump and the Al Qaeda and ISIS Networks in Africa. RENNES PUR, XVI(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.4000/lisa.10157
Hamlin, B. T. (2005, March 10). International Relations Committee Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Non-Proliferation. New York: European Plans and Operations Center United States European Command.
Hartley, W. ( 30 August 2007). More U.S. Soldiers Not Welcome in Africa, Says Lekota. Johannesburg: Business Day .
Hefferman, C. (2013). Qualitative Research Approach. Retrieved February 4, 2020, from www.explorable.com
Holt, A. (1 December, 2004). South Africa in the War on Terror. Terrorism Monitor.
Jeanne, S. (2013, May 21). "Next Generation Cooperation Threat Reduction Act of 2013." Statement for the Record. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from Institute for Science and International Security. Homeland Security Digital Library.: https://0-www.hsdl.org.lib.utep.edu/?view&did=738009
Joscelyn, T. (2017, February 18). Osama bin Laden’s Files: AQIM Commander Recommended Training Boko Haram Members. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from Long War Journal: <https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/02/osama-bin-ladens-files-aqim-leader-recommended training-boko-harams-members.php
Kandel, M. (2014, December 17). La stratégie américaine en Afrique: les risques et contradictions du « Light Footprint. La Stratégie américaine en Afrique, Etudes de l’IRSEM n°36.
Kandel, M. (2016, Novermber 18). Pour l’armée américaine, l’Afrique est un laboratoire de la lutte antiterroriste. Retrieved February 11, 2020, from Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2016/11/18/maya-kandel-pour-l-armee-americaine-l-afrique-est-un-laboratoire-de-la-lutte-antiterroriste_5033345_3210.html
Kennedy-Boudali, L. (2009, November 17). Examining U.S. Counterterrorism Priorities and Strategy Across Africa’s Sahel Region. Testimony Presented Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on African Affairs on 17 November. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.
Krech, H. (2011). The Growing Influence of Al-Qaeda on the African Continent. Africa Spectrum, 46(2), 125-137.
Lubeck, P., Watts, M. J., & Lipschutz, R. (2007, February). Convergent Interests: U.S. Energy Security and the ‘Securing’ of Nigerian Democracy. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from Center for International Policy: http://www.ciponline.org
Lumpkin, J. J. (2002, January 30). Diagrams Show Interest in Nuke Plants. Retrieved January 5, 2020, from Associated Press,: http://www.mrt.com/import/article_5345552b-a052-5324-956f-56da861e6a34.html?TNNoMobile
Lyman, P. (2017). The War on Terrorism in Africa. In J. Haberson (Ed.), Africa in World Politics (6th ed., pp. 1-361). New York: Routledge.
McCloud, K., & Osborne, M. (2001, November 20). WMD Terrorism and Usama Bin Laden. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from CNS Report: http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/binladen.htm
McConnell, M. (2008, February 5). Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligece for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/080205/mcconnell.pdf
Memier, M. (2017, janvier). AQMI et Al-Mourabitoun: le djihad sahélien, réunifié ? Etudes de l’Ifri.
Meservey, J. (2019, December). The Current Terrorism Landscape in Africa. Congressional Testimony: Testimony before the Subcommittee on National Security Committee on Oversight and Reform United States House of Representatives. Washington DC: Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.archives.gov/ogis/about-ogis/congressional-testimony
Mills, G., & Herbst, J. (2007, April). Africa, Terrorism, and AFRICOM. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from RUSI Journal: http://www.rusi.org
Mowatt-Larssen, R. (2010, January 10). Al Qaeda’s Pursuit of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from Foreign Policy: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/25/al_qaedas_pursuit_of_weapons_of_mass_destruction
Nasiri, O. (2006). Inside the Jihad. New York: Basic Books.
Paquette, D., & Warrick, J. (2020, February 23). Isis and al-Qaeda Join Forces in West Africa. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from The Washington Post: https//www.hstoday.us-isi-and-al qaeda
Rempfer, K. (2018, August 2). Report: AFRICOM looks to cut special ops missions, pull out hundreds of troops from Africa. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from Military Times: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/yourmilitary/2018/08/02/report-africom-looks-to-cut-special-ops-missions-pull-out-hundreds-oftroops-from-africa/>,
Saenz, L. (n.d). WMD Terrorism and the Al Qaeda Network : An Analysis of AQIM and Al Shabaab. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.utep.edu/liberalarts/nssi/_Files/docs/Capstone%20projects1/Lisa-Saenz-Capstone.pdf
Schanzer, J. (2007, May 28). Pretoria Unguarded: Terrorists Take Refuge in South Africa. Weekly Standard, Vol. 12, No. 35.
Schroeder, M. (2011). Holy Grails: Libya Loses Control of its MANPADS. Jane’s Intelligence Review, 5, 18-22.
Schwartz, S. (2010, May 4). Is Nigeria a Hotbed of Islamic Extremism. USIP Peace Brief 27 . Washington, DC: U.S.: Institute of Peace.
Searcey, D., Cooper, H., & Schmitt, E. (2017, October 20). Conflicting Accounts in Niger Ambush are Subject of Pentagon Investigation. Retrieved January 16, 2020, from New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/world/africa/niger-ambush-conflicting-accounts.html
Shillinger, K. (2006, February). Al-Qaida in Southern Africa. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from Armed Forces Journal: http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2006/02/1813653/
Stenersen, A. (2017). Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, C. (2018, February 5). Al Qaeda and US Policy: Middle East and Africa. Congressional Research Service CRS Report R43756.
Trump, D. (2017, October 25). Remarks in an Exchange with Reporters, October 25, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2020, from The American Presidency Project: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=128706
Ulph, S. (13 December, 2003). Al Qaida Networks Uncovered in Morocco. Terrorism Focus.
Vandiver, J. (2018, August 2). “Report: General wants to pull hundreds of US troops out of Africa. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from Stars & Stripes,: <https://www.stripes.com/news/report-general-wants-to-pull-hundreds-of-us-troops-out-of-africa-1.540609>,
White-House. (2012, June). US Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved February 11, 2020, from https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/209377.pdf
Wright, L. (2006). The Looming Tower. New York: Knopf.
Zaitseva, L., & Hand, K. (2003). Nuclear Smuggling Chains: Suppliers, Intermediaries, and End-Users. American Behavioral Scientist, 822(46), 822-844. doi:10.1177/0002764202239177
Abstract views: 306 PDF Downloads: 271
The authors agree with the following conditions:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication (Download agreement) with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors have the right to complete individual additional agreements for the non-exclusive spreading of the journal’s published version of the work (for example, to post work in the electronic repository of the institution or to publish it as part of a monograph), with the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal.
3. Journal’s politics allows and encourages the placement on the Internet (for example, in the repositories of institutions, personal websites, SSRN, ResearchGate, MPRA, SSOAR, etc.) manuscript of the work by the authors, before and during the process of viewing it by this journal, because it can lead to a productive research discussion and positively affect the efficiency and dynamics of citing the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
