U.S. Government

Leadership, ethics, and Africa’s role in global security were among the topics discussed when nearly 60 professionals from 40 African nations met for the opening of the Next Generation of African Security Sector Leaders (NextGen) course October 21, 2013, just outside of Washington, D.C. The three-week program is conducted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) and runs through November 8.

United States Department of State Spokesperson Marie Harf on Kenya's proposal to defer proceedings at the ICC.

Let me begin by first explaining why security assistance is an essential part of the State Department’s mandate. There is sometimes confusion about where security assistance roles begin and end between the Departments of Defense and State. And many often wonder why the State Department is involved at all in “harder” security related areas. The reason is fairly straightforward: security assistance has broad foreign policy implications. It is not just that weapons can be used in a conflict and therefore must be dealt with very carefully. It is that the distribution of security assistance is fundamentally a foreign policy act.

LiveAtState with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, and General David M. Rodriguez, Commander of Africa Command, discussing foreign policy and security cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa.