Wilder Alejandro Sanchez and Scott Morgan
International Policy Digest
18 February, 2018
Originally published: https://intpolicydigest.org/2019/02/18/burkina-faso-and-u-s-dc-national-guard-sign-partnership/
The District of Columbia National Guard and the National Armed Forces
of Burkina Faso signed a partnership agreement on 1 February. This
initiative occurs under the Department of Defense’s State Partnership
Program (SPP) which brings together different National Guards with U.S.
partners around the world. The deal occurs at a critical moment as
violence in the landlocked African state intensifies.
State Partnerships
“The SPP evolved from a 1991 U.S. European Command decision to set up
the Joint Contact Team Program in the Baltic Region with Reserve
component Soldiers and Airmen,” the National Guard’s website explains.
It is aimed at providing “an equally beneficial relationship between
armed forces of partnering U.S. National Guard states and foreign
nations.”
According to a 4 February press release
by the U.S. Army, Burkina Faso is the 76th nation to join this program,
while the DC Guard now has partnerships with two nations, the Caribbean
island of Jamaica, and the aforementioned African nation.
The U.S. Army’s press release added that the DC Guard-Burkina Faso
partnership will cover areas such as “homeland defense and security,
disaster mitigation and response, consequence and crisis management,
inter-agency cooperation, border, port, and aviation security,
fellowship-style internships, and combat medical events.” The first
initiative between the two sides will be a trip by DC Guard soldiers and
airmen who will participate in Exercise Flintlock, which is directed by
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) and sponsored by U.S. Africa Command.
Nowadays there are partnerships between the Guard and U.S. allies
around the world. A total of 14 African states have established
partnerships with the U.S. National guard; for example, Benin teamed up
North Dakota, Botswana teamed up with North Carolina, Djibouti teamed up
with Kentucky, and Ghana teamed up with North Dakota. According to U.S. Africa Command,
“in the fiscal year 2018, the National Guard conducted more than 100
State Partnership Program events in support of USAFRICOM’s security
cooperation objectives. These events involved more than 3,000 partner
nation personnel.”
Burkina Faso’s Growing Importance to the U.S.
In addition to the SPP, Burkina Faso is also partners with the United States under the Trans Saharan Counterterrorism Program. This program was launched in 2005 by the State Department to expand on the previously operational Pan Sahel Initiative
that began shortly after the attacks of 9/11. The Sahel as a whole has
presented unique challenges not only to the United States but also to
its partners in the EU as well, the migrant crisis is a prime example of
this complex situation. This has led to efforts by the Europeans to get
involved with other states in the region such as Mali and Niger to
undertake similar endeavors.
The United States has had a history of warm relations with Burkina
Faso since they gained independence from France under the name of Upper
Volta in 1960. The role of the US during the crucial transitional period
during 2014-15 after the overthrow of the Compare Presidency has been
regarded as a positive influence by the Burkinbe as a whole when viewing
the reliability of the United States as a partner.
The recent spike of insurgent attacks in the region over the last few
years has caused great concern over regional stability. So far efforts
to restore democratic ideals in Mali and the focus to support the
Government in Niger seems to have created some thought that Burkina Faso
was being ignored by AFRICOM and other major decision makers.
This relationship can actually put to rest three key criticisms that
have been levied against previous administrations. First that the
approach by the United States towards certain partners can be seen as
heavy-handed. Secondly, it also disproves the notion that for the most
part the United States is only concerned with access to natural
resources as has been seen in other parts of the world and finally this
is not a ‘democracy building operation.”
Final Thoughts
The State Partnership with the DC National Guard and growing
relations with AFRICOM cannot come too soon as violence in the West
African state continues. In January there were a series of attacks attacking the Gold Industry.
In these series of incidents foreign nationals were targeted and
appeared to be an omen of future events. Moreover, in mid-February, the AFP reported
that a doctor was killed and two police officers were wounded in the
northern part of the country when a “ bomb hidden in a corpse dressed in
military uniform,” exploded. Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba and other ministers resigned in January, apparently in response to their inability to deal with violence and kidnappings.
Right now, the government and the armed forces of Burkina Faso can
use all the international aid they can get to bring peace to the
landlocked country.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors
alone and do not reflect those of any institutions with which the author
are associated.
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