Securitization : the case of post-9/11 United States Africa policy

In the wake of AI Qaeda's attack against the United States on September 11, 2001, Africa has gained strategic significance due to the belief that its weak states are a danger to American national security. US Africa policy is now centered on the logic that weak African governments unable to provide for the basic needs of their people and lacking full control of their borders provide both a breeding ground and safe-haven for terrorist organizations. Africa has thus gone from being a marginalized humanitarian concern in the 1990s, to a continent of strategic significance in the US War on Terror (USW01) in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center, as seen in the fact that American aid to the continent has more than tripled in the years following 9/11. The purpose of this thesis is to critically analyze the political process behind this shift in policy in order to address the question of who was responsible for this change in US Africa policy and how did they make the change happen. This study takes the form of a theoretical case study, using the Copenhagen School's Securitization Theory, designed to identify the means by which an issue is placed on the national security agenda, to address this change in post-9/11 US Africa policy. In accordance with this theoretical framework, primary sources from government and non-government agencies including policy statements, speeches and legislative testimonies are surveyed to identify instances of the claim being articulated that Africa represents a threat to American national security and its legitimation and reiteration by an audience. This study finds that the unified executive branch under the Bush administration and Washington think tanks made the unified claim that the condition of Africa is a threat to US national security and the legislative branch served as the singular audience, legitimating this claim and appropriating dramatically increased and enhanced aid to the continent. The factors of political agency and context are offered as additions to the Securitization Theory framework in this study, and their incorporation in this case determines that the high-level of the agency of the securitizing actors and audience facilitated the legitimation process, as did the use of the contextual factors of the trauma of9/11 and the American identity as promoters of democratic ideals. These additional factors underscore both the political power of the actors involved and the techniques they use to support their claims, thereby developing the political quality of the theory and providing a more complete representation of the securitization process.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Political Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Walker, Robin E

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9234

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9234