AFRICOM, Spectacular Flop

It may be difficult to imagine Matt Damon in a Hamburg mosque. It might be more difficult to imagine AFRICOM in, say, Africa.

That AFRICOM will be in Germany represents a spectacular failure on the part of the US military and the US State Department as we seek greater influence on the continent. It is remarkable that, almost two decades after the end of the Cold War, we remain unable to position commands outside of 50-year-old locations in Europe and Asia.

The importance of Africa is likely to grow in the coming years as a good analysis on NPR made clear yesterday. That we couldn't get this command in Africa represents another failure in our efforts to re-adapt to a post-Cold War world.