Defense and State Department policy officials addressed hot topics including WikiLeaks and the U.S. federal budget in a roundtable discussion with U.S. Africa Command officials during a visit to the headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, December 6, 2010.

The visit was aimed at ongoing coordination between the U.S. State Department and U.S. Defense Department in Africa. The meetings were a follow-up to the officials' February meeting with U.S. AFRICOM leadership and served "to update, to look at challenges, and then to focus on priorities," said Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, principal deputy assistant secretary for African affairs at the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs. He was joined by Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Africa.

The ambassadors said they plan to meet with the command on a regular basis to inform leaders on events in Washington and to talk about challenges in accomplishing the command's mission within the U.S. interagency process, as well as to follow up on the status of mission priorities in Africa.

Priorities
Counterterrorism and countering violent extremism are the predominate priorities for the Defense Department, Huddleston said.

"East Africa becomes extremely high for DOD in terms of priority," said Huddleston. "And then the second priority would be AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) over in West Africa and North Africa, because it’s a threat as well to Europe and potentially – and maybe as a terrorism threat as well. So the highest priority for DOD, and therefore AFRICOM, becomes East Africa because of Somalia and then West (Africa), North Africa because of the AQIM."

However, U.S. Africa Command focuses its efforts on enabling regional African partners to address these threats themselves, rather than taking unilateral U.S. military action. Diplomats from the U.S. Department of State play an active leadership role in addressing these concerns throughout Africa, with support from the U.S. military.

Challenges
Budget constraints were another issue of concern Yamamoto addressed in the meeting. He said the nation's $13.9 trillion debt (against a $14 trillion annual budget) raises many other challenges. African country bank pullouts, unfunded initiatives, waiver demands from Congress, and trends in ethnic violence in various countries were also concerns Yamamoto brought to the table from Washington.

WikiLeaks was also an obstacle discussed during the ambassadors' visit. Yamamoto said the impact and reaction to the recent classified document spill has demonstrated the open relationship and strong partnership the United States has with Africa.

"… I think we have a much more frank and open dialogue with the Africans," Yamamoto said. "When we see a problem, we tell them, and so when they see it in print it’s already been enunciated. Africans have told us that they’re not going to let this get in the way of our partnership or the common issues on regular security and content-wide security."

Working together
The United State's relationship with Africa also plays a critical role in how decisions are made about U.S. activities in Africa. With a good rapport, Americans are better able to understand the needs and desires of Africans and adapt their programs and activities accordingly to help Africans create solutions to their problems, said Huddleston.

"The goal of AFRICOM has always been to be build capacity" and to help African nations "create professional military soldiers under civilian control," Huddleston pointed out. "And this is so critical because it’s not for the United States to intervene in Africa; it’s for Africans themselves to take care of terrorism threats, to take care of the stability threats, to provide the security and the environment in which they can grow democracy and provide economic opportunity for their population."

While serving as a U.S. ambassador in Mali, Huddleston said she saw collaboration between Africans and U.S. agencies yield several successful humanitarian aid projects.

One specific instance Huddleston recalled where diplomacy, development, and defense (three Ds) came together was for a humanitarian mission in northern Mali. Representatives from USAID, the military and U.S. State Department talked with villagers to learn the needs of the people in an area where violent extremists were believed to be operating. With the elders in the community and the defense attaché’s official development assistance funds, local workers were contracted to build wells and repair schools and clinics.

"So you had AID looking over the project to make sure it was a good project. And you had use of the military funds," said Huddleston. "And you had the State Department policy, you know, looking at how we can deal with this poverty which can lead to recruitment by terrorists up in that area. So it was an excellent project..."

"We’re making a lot of progress on stabilization and economic development and good governance," Yamamoto said. "Those are kind of key areas, which is what President Obama said are our strategic positions. But again, the other thing, too, is that what really is this chance for the three Ds is getting the interagency correct. That is very tough."

Huddleston added that their visits to U.S. Africa Command headquarters serve exactly that purpose - to coordinate interagency activities and improve upon collaboration.

Progress and partnership
U.S. Africa Command is taking initiative to be a good partner and foster joint cooperation, added Yamamoto.

"I think [AFRICOM] is much more innovative than the other combatant commands in the sense that you have very different approaches, I think, and … to have a deputy commander from State Department," Yamamoto said. "I think you have -- with General Ward, I’d never seen this type of dialogue, ever. I’d never seen that in my 30 years."

AFRICOM Commander General William "Kip" Ward’s has achieved significant success with the command, Yamamoto said.

"Well, he got this command off the ground," said Yamamoto. "That’s a miracle. I mean, he just – he had to fight tooth and nail for everything, but the command just has to build on what he’s put in place."

The command's activities have helped to change some initial misperception among Africans.

"Increasingly, they’re realizing that what AFRICOM provides is a way to improve their militaries, and in great ways," said Huddleston.

One way U.S. Africa Command is doing this is through programs like Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA), which is a State Department initiative designed to improve African ability to respond quickly to crises by providing militaries with the training and equipment required to execute humanitarian or peace support operations. U.S. Africa Command supports ACOTA by providing mentors and advising African personnel on military law, human rights, gender protection for women -- issues Huddleston said are also important to civil society.

"That makes the training exceptionally important, because it’s not just mil-mil training, it’s training that makes the military more acceptable to civilians because they [better protect civilians]," she added.

Security is a key factor in capacity-building on the continent, said Huddleston. And, it's a joint endeavor involving U.S. State and Defense Departments, embassies, and AFRICOM, she noted.

"We have equally important roles in providing security and capacity-building, and we can’t do it alone," said Huddleston. "We can only do it together, and the better we do it together, as exemplified by the conversations today, the greater the chance that we’re going to be successful in helping Africans develop effective security for their countries."