Publication

This study contributes to the debate over how the US Army could better promote its national interests by preventing conflicts rather than simply responding once violence has broken out. The authors reject the notion that the political culture of African states allows or even encourages military intervention in politics. They use case studies from Nigeria and South Africa to argue that if the fragile democracies in sub-Saharan Africa are to be sustained, African armed forces must be extricated from politics and take steps toward the type of military professionalism seen in stable democracies around the world.