Podcast – Proxies and American Strategy in Africa. The U.S. withdrawal from Somalia of 700 military personnel has put the U.S. military involvement in Africa back in the news. This podcast explores what US forces are doing when they’re deployed in countries across Africa. In many cases these US forces (SOF and conventional) are working with local partner forces. – which helps the United States to retain a degree of influence and situational awareness in the country. Two guests featured in this podcast provide an examination of proxy warfare in Africa.
Retired Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks was the former commander of Special Operations Command Africa from 2017 to 2019. In that role he was responsible for all Special Operations Forces conducting counterinsurgency operations and foreign internal defense (FID) across the continent of Africa. Hicks is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours in AC-130H Spectre and AC-130U Spooky aircraft. He has commanded units within the special operations community and conventional Air Force at all levels.
Dr. Eli Berman is the co-editor of the book Proxy Wars: Suppressing Violence through Local Agents. He is a professor at the University of California San Diego and has served as the Research Director for International Security Studies at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.
Irregular Warfare Podcast, December 23, 2020, 56 mins.
https://mwi.usma.edu/mwi-podcast-proxies-and-american-strategy-in-africa/
