Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 00:03:59 +0200
Reflections on the Agreement between Washington and Djibouti
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Fouad Farhaoui Fouad Farhaoui
21 September Monday, 2014
Last May, Djibouti President Ismail Omer Guelleh met with US President
Barack Obama at the White House where they discussed issues related to the
economy, education, and health. Moreover, issues regarding terrorism and
development of military relations topped the agenda. One result of the
meeting was that both sides agreed on extending the lease on the American
military base Camp Lemonnier located in Djibouti. Remarkably, this meeting
took place after a hectic round of three tours undertaken by US Secretary of
State John Kerry that covered three regions and wrapped up in April. The
tour was the West Maghreb tour, which consisted of Morocco and Algeria,
followed by the Horn of Africa tour, in which Kerry visited Ethiopia, and
finally the Central Africa tour, consisting of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo and Angola. These visits show that the military agreement between
the USA and Djibouti came to the agenda as a result of Washington's desire
to be involved in African integration.
The Importance of the American Base in Djibouti
As is known, the US established the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of
Africa (CJTF-HOA) after 9/11 and then the United States Africa Command
(AFRICOM) in 2008, the former was later incorporated into the latter.
Concurrently, in return for 30 million dollars, Djibouti transferred
operation of Camp Lemonnier to the USA in order to accommodate the Combined
Joint Task Force. In this way, it was argued that the US's activities in the
region could be more effective with its first direct military presence in
the Horn of Africa after failed military operations in Somalia during the
early 1990s under the command of the United Nations.
The initial mission granted to AFRICOM was to monitor security developments,
and terrorism and piracy activities. However, the American base in Djibouti
truly came to prominence after Washington's overseas military expansion in
response to events in the Middle East, the withdrawal of the US from Iraq,
and also the chaotic events occurring as a result of "Arab Spring". This
situation can be elucidated by looking at a statement issued by Obama after
his meeting with Djibouti's president, "Camp Lemonnier is extraordinarily
important to our work throughout the Horn of Africa but also throughout the
region." In the beginning, the mission of the Combined Joint Task Force was
limited to operations within the borders of Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Djibouti, Kenya, Seychelles, Comoros, South Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia.
After 2011, however, it expanded to include Chad, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Yemen. This
means that the activities originating from the American base in Djibouti can
be located along three major geographical axes. The first axis spans from
the Horn of Africa down the coast to sub-Saharan Africa. The second axis
traces the east coast of Africa, excluding Egypt and the Republic of South
Africa, which respectively constitute the northern and southern tips of
Africa's eastern coastline. It is observed that this axis is of great
significance because its geography hosts two straits which are of critical
global importance. The first strait is the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb that
connects the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean via the
Red Sea. The second is the Mozambique Channel which has started to play a
significant role in international trade transportation. Also, on the East
African coastal axis, there are a plethora of strategically important
islands such as the Seychelles and Mauritius. The third axis begins in the
Horn of Africa and extends down Central Africa to the African Great Lakes
region.
The Pillars of Military Relations between the USA and Djibouti
When American policies directed at East Africa are carefully examined, it
can be stated that there are 4 strategic pillars of American-Djiboutian
military relations. These are, fighting against terrorism, securing sea
transport routes, developing the military capacities of Djiboutian soldiers
to secure land borders, and training of Djiboutian forces to join the UN
Peace Protection Force. The American government articulated these pillars as
the grounds for Congress to increase the amount of aid allotted to Djibouti
from the 2015 budget. Focusing on the regional and international aspects of
the military agreement between America and Djibouti, it is possible to boil
the relations down to the desire of Washington to control some African
crises which threaten American interests and decrease the country's
influence. For example, the current crisis in the Republic of South Sudan
poses the risk of sabotaging all efforts of the United Nations to rebuild
the state and of laying waste to great investment opportunities in the
country's energy resources, mines, and agriculture and infrastructure
sectors. The crisis taking place in Central Africa threatens the stability
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, which are counted as
some of the most important allies of Washington in the region.
Military Bases: Rivalry between the USA, its Western allies, and China.
Another aspect of America's presence in Djibouti can be read with respect
to China's growing influence on the continent. American dominance on the
East Coast of Africa provides it the ability to control Chinese expansion.
Beijing may attempt to build naval bases along this coast in an attempt to
complement its base in Pakistan, Gwadar Harbor, which came under the control
of China after it signed an agreement on the matter with Pakistan in
February 2013. Since Washington is seeking to control the Gulf of Aden and
the Mozambique Channel, its presence around the waters of Seychelles and
Mauritius enables it to better observe Chinese movements in the Indian
Ocean. This presence also enables the USA to build a wider coalition with
India, which is in competition with China over dominance of the Indian
Ocean. Likewise, it is not a secret that Washington is willing to maintain
its strategic influence at the expense of its Western allies by proceeding
with military expansion in and around Djibouti. In fact, Djibouti is within
France's traditional sphere of influence and it hosts one of France's
largest overseas military bases. This rivalry can also be seen in Chad's
participation in the Combined Joint Task Force, which is perceived of as a
negative development in Paris. Current attempts of the USA to gain influence
in South Sudan can be seen in parallel to French attempts to do the same in
Central Africa, which is seen as a region traditionally falling under French
influence. This situation has witnessed Washington and Paris confront one
another in their competition for Central Africa. France's attempts to create
a special 3,000-strong combat force that is able to rapidly mobilize and
pursue operations in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon as a reaction to the Boko
Haram movement's kidnapping of 200 girls from a school in Northeastern
Nigeria should also be read in light of the above context.
In short, the lease on the American base in Djibouti is of instrumental
importance for the USA in strengthening its presence in East Africa at a
time when it has been encountered with many difficulties in the Middle East.
At the same time, it is known that the US seeks to benefit from the economic
opportunities of the Central and East African countries, especially those
which possess rich energy and ore reserves. This pecuniary reality further
explains the continuance of rivalry in the region, even among the Western
allies.
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