Eva Dadrian marvels at yet another surprise from the Sark -- pulling French troops out of Africa Initiated by President Nicolas Sarkozy and drafted in the White Paper on Defence and National Security, the decision to reduce French troops in Africa is a milestone in French foreign policy. The White Paper, unveiled last June sets the course for sweeping reforms that would alter France's longstanding military deployments not only in Europe but also in Africa and the Middle East. Since giving independence, voluntarily or otherwise, to its African colonies, France has maintained an exclusive sphere of influence and left unchanged many of its colonial African military commitments. With thousands of its troops stationed in the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti and the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mayotte (Comoros Islands), France has intervened militarily on the African continent and has sent troops into action from the Ivory Coast to Chad and from Gabon to Central African Republic, either to help put down insurrections or replace political leaders. In addition, Paris has signed military cooperation agreements with Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi. According to the French Ministry of Defence, out of the 12,900 French troops that are engaged in peacekeeping operations around the world (Théâtres d'Opérations Extérieures) 3,000 are in Chad and Central African Republic and 2,000 in Côte d'Ivoire. France keeps also three military bases on the continent, namely Dakar (Senegal), Libreville (Gabon) and Djibouti. According to military analysts, while the two former ones are to promote "regional security", that of Djibouti allows France to exercise a "measure of military influence in the Middle East". But since 9/11 these French outposts are also undergoing some changes and are being "Europeanised" and even "internationalised" as France has been inviting other European countries and also the US to commit forces to the bases. This is the case of Djibouti, in particular, where 1,500 American personnel of the Combined Joint Task Force for the Horn of Africa are stationed with a mission to detect, disrupt and ultimately defeat "transnational terrorist groups operating in the region". The so-called task force also covers the total airspace and land areas of Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia in Africa, and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. France's military disengagement in Africa will be achieved by reducing the 2,000 troops of Force Licorne in Cote d'Ivoire and by withdrawing the 1,000 troops of EUFOR Chad/RCA in March when the UN Minucart 2 will replace the European mission there. However, the 800-member contingent of Operation Epervier will still remain in Chad. The Théâtres d'Opérations Extérieures and France's participation in United Nations multinational operations in 2008 cost France some 850 million euros and 350 million euros respectively. Despite these sweeping changes in its military presence on the continent, France will continue to carry out joint manoeuvres and peacekeeping training throughout its former colonies, and more specifically those of the Sahel region (Niger and Mali) where French commercial interests are present. Interestingly, the White Paper on Defence and National Security came at a time when the United States was increasing its military presence in Africa with the joint US- Africa Command in 2007. Better known as AFRICOM, the new Africa Command is based in Stuttgart, Germany. AFRICOM has yet to be accepted by most African states. With the exception of Liberia which has publicly offered to host it, African governments have yet to decide where it would be based and whether this new style American presence would not give Washington too much influence. The African file seems not to have reached United States President Barack Obama's desk as of yet. In light of his plan to increase troop levels in Afghanistan from 36,000 to more than 60,000 and his flurry of activity on the Palestine-Israeli front, his priority seems to be the Middle East. The growing threat from the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, as indicated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates's address to a Senate panel recently, may well destabilise the entire region. According to observers, the new administration also fears the chaotic political and security situation in nuclear-armed Pakistan, with its Al-Qaeda and Taliban bases. If President Obama has inherited two wars -- Iraq and Afghanistan -- he is also left with a thorny Africa filled with challenges like Darfur, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Mauritania and more recently Guinea. Gates also fears that "unstable African regions" could become possible "havens for terrorists". Security in Africa cannot be overlooked, especially in the Gulf of Guinea, where there are significant American oil interests, the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden, the gateway to the oil-rich Arabian peninsula. So as France reduces its national deployment of forces in Africa in favour of European and UN efforts, will Obama increase US military presence on the continent? Could it be that the euphoria in Africa with his election as the first Afro- American president will convince African nations to give a permanent home to AFRICOM? This would mark a political coup for the US military. Just how Sarkozy's decision to reduce French presence fits this intriguing possibility is a tantalising question.
