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Outsourcing African security

LUIS LIWANAG/AFP/Getty Images The White House quietly revealed this week that the United States is cutting $193 million in funding for U.N. peacekeeping operations, mainly in Africa. The cuts will affect ongoing operations in Liberia, Rwanda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and others. This is on top of the $500 million the ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
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596493_080212_un2.jpg

LUIS LIWANAG/AFP/Getty Images

LUIS LIWANAG/AFP/Getty Images

The White House quietly revealed this week that the United States is cutting $193 million in funding for U.N. peacekeeping operations, mainly in Africa. The cuts will affect ongoing operations in Liberia, Rwanda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and others. This is on top of the $500 million the U.S. already owes the U.N. for peacekeeping. The timing of the announcement could not be worse as Bush prepares for a seven-day tour of the continent beginning on Friday.

But it’s not that America is stingy on African defense. It just has its own ideas about how to provide it. Sharon Weinberger writes over at Wired‘s “Danger Room” that the State Department is currently negotiating a five-year, $1 billion contract with three private security contractors to provide military assistance in Africa. Notice a trend?

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

Read More On Africa | George W. Bush | Security | U.S. Foreign Policy | United Nations

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