Research Summaries

Back FY20 Assessing the Impacts of Competitor Influence on U.S. Security Assistance

Fiscal Year 2020
Division School of International Graduate Studies
Department National Security Affairs
Investigator(s) Piombo, Jessica R.
Sponsor U.S. Marine Forces Europe and Africa (Marine Corps)
Summary The United States engages in security sector assistance as a way to build stronger militaries that share the burden of enhancing international stability and to build enduring partnerships and with countries around the globe. Since the 1990s, the United States has been a preferred provider for security sector assistance, both in terms of training and equipment provision. In Africa, partners have sought out the USA as a partner to provide high quality training and education, as well as weapons, weapons systems, and military craft. Since the early 2000s, however, as China began to re-engage with Africa, security cooperation officers on the continent have reported that they are seeing their relationships shift and changes in the nature and frequency of requests from partner militaries. Evidence is anecdotal, however, about the true extent of the changes that the U.S. has experienced in regards to the security sector assistance in an era of rising competition from China and Russia. Systematic research and analysis is necessary to understand the nature and scope of competitor influence on U.S. security engagement across the continent. This research complements other USMC funded research at NPS by analyzing trends in security sector assistance in countries with a significant degree of Chinese influence, compared to those without it. The research will identify a set of target countries and investigate whether (and how) U.S. security sector assistance in those countries has changed in response to competition from Chinese and other emerging powers.
Keywords
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