Category: Military
The U.S. Now Wants to Compete With China in the Fast-Growing Armed Drone Market in Africa and the Middle East
The United States is easing restrictions on the sale of armed drone technology to governments in the Middle East and elsewhere in a bid to avoid being left behind by Chinese competitors in this fast-growing segment. The United States has now ...
U.S.-China Rivalry in the Red Sea
The Red Sea is emerging as a key theater of contention in the emerging duel between the United States and China. Both countries have military outposts in the tiny country of Djibouti and expanding geopolitical interests in one of the world's ...
The Algerian Army is the First Customer for China’s New Shoulder-Mounted HJ-12 Anti-Missile System
In a somewhat surprising move, the Chinese military will not be the first client to get its hands on the new HJ-12 (红箭-12) shoulder-mounted anti-tank missile system produced by the large state-owned weapons contractor NORINCO. That honor will instead go to the Algerian army. It bought an ...
New Book Explains Why You Shouldn’t Focus Only on Hard Metrics to Evaluate China’s Engagement in Africa
A highly-anticipated new book by acclaimed China-Africa scholar Lina Benabdallah went on sale today. "Shaping the Future of Power" details a key difference that distinguishes China's engagement strategy in Africa from that of other countries: its extensive professional and skills-transfer initiatives. ...
Twitter Thread: Nigeria’s Covert Military Procurement Deals With China
The widely-read military blogger Defense News Nigeria explained in a multipart Twitter thread published yesterday why Abuja felt it necessary to negotiate a series of covert military procurement deals with Beijing. The thread explains how U.S. export controls on attack drones ...
Chinese Miltary Donates COVID-19 Supplies to the Rwandan Military
A Chinese People's Liberation Army cargo plane landed Wednesday to deliver $300,000 worth of COVID-19 PPE and other medical supplies. The PLA donated the material to their counterparts in the Rwandan Defense Force. It's not clear from the statement on the ...
How the U.S. is Catching Up With China in the PR Battle Over COVID-19 Relief in Africa
Although U.S. stakeholders have given a lot more money to COVID-19 relief in Africa than those from China, the Chinese have done much better on the PR side. But Judd Devermont, Director of the Africa Program at the ...
In Praising New U.S. Military Deployment Senator Says China and Terrorism Are Growing Security Threats in Africa
Conservative Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (R) was among the first to praise the Pentagon's decision to deploy the SFAB to Africa, something he said he's been calling for several years now. And, just as the Pentagon did in its statement, Senator Inhofe also singled out China in ...
Competing With China Cited as a Key Reason for New U.S. Army Deployment to Africa
The Pentagon made it very clear on Wednesday that countering Chinese influence in Africa was a key factor behind the decision to deploy the Army’s 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) from Fort Benning, Georgia to work various African militaries. In fact, ...
Rebuttal: Clarifying the U.S. Policy Approach Towards Africa
Editor's Note: A number of current and former United States government officials took issue with many of the points that I raised in my recent column on U.S. foreign policy towards Africa ("China's role in Washington's divided, confusing foreign policy towards Africa") and disagreed vehemently both ...
Remember When China, Russia, and South Africa Held Their First-ever Joint Naval Exercises? Well, it Didn’t Amount to Very Much
There was a lot of hype/anticipation over the dramatic optics of the Chinese, Russian and South African navies holding their first-ever joint naval exercises off the coast of Cape Town. Did the presence of Russian and Chinese warships in the port ...
This Chart Explains Why the U.S. Seems Increasingly Disengaged From Africa
This chart that measures African trade clearly explains why there's so little interest in the United States about fostering closer ties with Africa. The U.S. trading relationship peaked in 2011 and since then has been on a steady, potentially irreversible ...