Part I here. Why should developing nations in Africa (and US security force assistance efforts to those countries) be more focused on building maritime capacity rather than land power? As articulated by Geoffrey Till
, seapower is the sum of all of a nation's civil and military maritime activities: "…there is more to seapower than grey painted ships with numbers on the
side... Seapower also includes the non-military aspects of sea use (merchant
shipping, fishing, marine insurance, shipbuilding and repair and so on) since
these contribute to naval power and since they can also influence the behaviour
of other people in their own right."
, seapower is the sum of all of a nation's civil and military maritime activities: "…there is more to seapower than grey painted ships with numbers on theside... Seapower also includes the non-military aspects of sea use (merchant
shipping, fishing, marine insurance, shipbuilding and repair and so on) since
these contribute to naval power and since they can also influence the behaviour
of other people in their own right."
Certainly sea-borne trade is vital to just about any economy. Interestingly though, one of the most important factors in Africa’s recent and future economic growth is found under the sea. Mobile telephony and broadband Internet access are enabling some African countries to move directly from pastoral economies into the information age. Low cost connectivity facilitates many basic services for the developing world which the West has taken for granted for decades: a more transparent media, a platform for community organization and political activism, better access to health care and education, mobile banking and money exchange systems, and enhanced security for civilians in conflict zones. NDU’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies has produced an excellent study on this transformation. Even in Somalia, with all of its strife and problems, mobile telephony is one of the main (legitimate) drivers of economic growth.
Given the importance of broadband connectivity to the future of Africa; it stands to reason that the national security strategies of those countries should not ignore this economic lifeline. Undersea broadband cables are generally pretty robust and redundant, but there have been several recent notable outages around the world. And because groups like MEND and al Qaeda have become wise to the value of low cost, high impact attacks on maritime oil infrastructure, it stands to reason that they might expand into information infrastructure too. Along Africa's long coastlines, these cables could be disrupted intentionally by maritime guerrillas or more likely, just run over by wayward fishing trawlers. Monitoring and protection of their information infrastructure is yet another reason for African countries to spend a larger portion of their meager defense budgets on building competent coastal navies.
Given the importance of broadband connectivity to the future of Africa; it stands to reason that the national security strategies of those countries should not ignore this economic lifeline. Undersea broadband cables are generally pretty robust and redundant, but there have been several recent notable outages around the world. And because groups like MEND and al Qaeda have become wise to the value of low cost, high impact attacks on maritime oil infrastructure, it stands to reason that they might expand into information infrastructure too. Along Africa's long coastlines, these cables could be disrupted intentionally by maritime guerrillas or more likely, just run over by wayward fishing trawlers. Monitoring and protection of their information infrastructure is yet another reason for African countries to spend a larger portion of their meager defense budgets on building competent coastal navies.
The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.
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