18 06 13 Officials from more than 30 Nations Meet for Africa Center's Annual Senior Leaders Seminar

 The seminar,
running June 16-28, provides a forum for senior-level military officers
and civilian officials from Africa, the United States, and Europe, as
well as representatives from international and regional organizations,
to review and analyze the evolving African security environment and to
discuss strategies for addressing challenges and enhancing Africa's
security.      

In
her remarks, Ms. Dory emphasized the critical role Africa has to play
as an important stakeholder in global security and highlighted how the
Department of Defense (DOD) approaches security in Africa. She also
highlighted U.S. government budget challenges in the years ahead mean
that military policies and partnerships will seek to emphasize low-cost
strategies that emphasize partnership and cooperation.

 "The
DOD supports the overall strategy of the U.S. government vis-à-vis
Africa by empowering African partners to take a greater role in
providing for their own security, and by doing so in ways that
strengthen emerging pockets of political, economic and democratic
vitality," Ms. Dory said. She added that this approach is consistent
with the "U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa," the policy document that was unveiled by the Obama administration in June 2012. 

 The
U.S. Defense Department leans toward small-footprint and innovative
security cooperation activities in Africa, Ms. Dory said. The DOD favors
"an active approach focused on countering threats to U.S. citizens and
interests in Africa, coupled with the development of effective
partnership to prevent and respond to conflicts and instability."  Ms.
Dory said the policy is consistent both with U.S. needs and the
preferences of African partners.

 Mr.
Michael Garrison, Acting Director of the Africa Center, spoke of the
progress Africa has made in recent years during his welcoming remarks.  "African
geostrategic and security landscape has changed dramatically over the
last 20 years, and this will only accelerate over the next 20 years,"
said Mr. Garrison.  He listed the security challenges in Africa,
including: violent extremism, poverty, corruption, poor governance, and
climate change. All these challenges, he said, affect African stability
ways that were never conceived two decades ago.  "This volatility,
uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the security landscape mandate
security leaders to be adaptable, flexible, agile, intuitive and able to
anticipate risk and look for new solutions in response to an
unprecedented and unpredictable world."

 Mr.
Garrison said that ethical leadership, the rule of law, democratic
governance, and transparency are critical to ensure that Africa assumes
its place as a stable and competent partner in the global economy. He
added that one of the great strengths of the annual Senior Leaders
Seminar is that it is not intended to present only U.S. views.  Instead,
SLS offers an avenue for African leaders to engage in dialogue with
themselves, with U.S. officials, and with Africa Center leadership and
faculty to seek new and diverse ideas, as well as to help strengthen the
dialogue between the U.S. government and African partners.

 The
SLS gathering in Washington, D.C. focuses on three areas of study:
democratic civil-military relations; national and regional security
strategies; and defense economics. The two-week program include plenary
session presentations as well as small discussion groups facilitated by
African, European, and American academics and practitioners.  Conducted
under the Africa Center's policy of non-attribution, these groups elicit
candid dialogue on issues such as military professionalism,
transparency in defense budgeting, definitions of security that echo
current African realities and challenges, and terrorist threats and
responses in Africa.  The three key pillars of the seminar –
fundamentals of security and strategy in Africa; core areas in security
studies; and current critical issues – are designed to help participants
integrate a comprehensive definition of security and develop approaches
for identifying and addressing the problems facing civil and military
leaders in African democratizing countries. The seminar also focuses its
attention on the need for political participation, transparency, and
military professionalism; identify the key challenges to enduring
civil-military relations by highlighting a comprehensive framework; and
demonstrate how national security goals and democracy are advanced by
efficient management of civil-military relations.  

ACSS
has offered the Senior Leaders Seminar since 1999 as an opportunity to
provide senior African leaders with practical and effective tools upon
which they can draw to address Africa's current and emerging security
challenges.  The program also includes special sessions on key security
issues.    

Keynote remarks by Ms. Amanda J. Dory, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs

Welcome Remarks by Acting Director of the Africa Center,  Mr. Michael Garrison

For more information about the Africa Center, visit www.africacenter.org.

Twitter users can follow the program's plenary sessions at #AfricaSLS13