State Emissary, November 2017. Issue 1 2017 Edition | Page 16

DONALD TRUMP'S AFRICA POLICY:
THREE PRIORITIES
The U.S. faces an ever-connected, dynamic, and often dangerous
world. Nowhere are the obstacles and opportunities presented by
these conditions more evident than in U.S.-Africa policy.
BY KELSEY LILLEY
Despite offering little insight into this foreign policy
thinking during the campaign, the president-elect
will enter office facing a number of serious challenges
to U.S. interests in Africa, but also an unprecedented
chance to deepen a partnership with the fastest-
growing continent in the world and advance
American security and economic interests.
The following priorities should be of particular
interest to the Trump administration:
1. Combating terrorism and instability
14 | NOV. 2017
The U.S. faces serious and sustained security
challenges across Africa. Terrorism, which not only
has the capacity to destabilize key African allies but
also to export violence to the U.S. and Europe, must be
at the top of the list. Post-intervention Libya must
build capacity for its government while eradicating
the last vestiges of the Islamic State militant group
(ISIS). The ISIS-aligned Nigerian militant group Boko
Haram continues to wreak havoc in the country's
northeast, and Al-Qaeda-linked Somali terror group
Al-Shabab is making concerning advances in Somalia