L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

Force. At the request of the UN Secretary-General, we are also escorting
UN chartered vessels in support of the African Union Mission
in Somalia.” 27
The review of NATO’s positions about the alliance’s role on the
continent was a natural continuation of individual policies of the
leading members of the alliance, especially of the United States and
those countries, which during the 19 th and 20 th centuries were colonial
masters in Africa.
Up till the break-up of the Soviet Union, direct involvement of
African states into military cooperation with the superpowers was
always bilateral. NATO and its twin alliance in the East – The Warsaw
Treaty Organization (WTO) – neither included African member
countries, nor had their bases or formal missions on the continent.
Despite continued confrontation, neither NATO, nor WTO ever had
special head-quarters or military commands exclusively in charge of
the African theatre of war. The situation changed after the disappearance
of the bi-polar construction of the military balance in the
world. The United Stated took the path of aggressive implantation of
Washington-designed democracies in the global periphery, which
might be used as handy front-screens for perpetuating American
exploitation of countries’ resources.
On February 6, 2007, the Bush Administration announced the
creation of a new unified combatant command – U.S. Africa
Command or AFRICOM – to promote U.S. national security objectives
in Africa and its surrounding waters. Prior to AFRICOM’s
establishment, U.S. military involvement on the continent was divided
among three commands: U.S. European Command
(EUCOM), U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), and U.S. Pacific
Command (PACOM). The command’s area of responsibility
(AOR) includes all African countries except Egypt. AFRICOM
was officially launched as a sub-unified command under EUCOM
on October 1, 2007, and became a stand-alone command on October
1, 2008.
As envisioned by the Department of Defense (DOD),
AFRICOM aims to promote U.S. strategic objectives by working
with African states and regional organizations to help strengthen
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