The war in Libya and the recently increased activities of three Africa-based Islamist groups have raised questions about whether Africom -- the U.S. military command created to oversee U.S. military operations in Africa -- may be shifting from its initial posture of projecting soft power to one of managing a hot theater.
However, according to Jennifer G. Cooke, who directs the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington, while Africom's public affairs posture may now be in flux, the command's core mission of growing African capabilities to meet African security challenges has not changed.
Cooke reminded Trend Lines yesterday that Africom has faced a "hearts and minds" perception battle since its inception in 2006 and 2007. Its arrival, she noted, coincided with a period when "the world was quite critical of the U.S. potentially trying to militarize its foreign policy."