ARMIES AND DEMOCRACY IN THE NEW AFRICA: LESSONS FROM NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

In October 1994, the Strategic Studies Institute sponsored a
roundtable on democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Particular
attention was paid to the role the U.S. military and Department of
Defense played in democracy support. This study developed from a paper
presented at the roundtable.
Dr. Butts and Dr. Metz reject the notion that the political
culture of African states allows or even encourages military
intervention in politics. Drawing on case studies from Nigeria and
South Africa, they contend that if the fragile democracies in Sub-
Saharan Africa are to be sustained, African militaries must be
extricated from politics and take decisive steps toward the type of
military professionalism seen in stable democracies around the world.
U.S. national interests in Sub-Saharan Africa are so limited that
the region will receive only a very small proportion of the human,
political, military, and economic resources devoted to American
national security strategy. This makes efficiency imperative. Dr.
Butts and Dr. Metz argue that if U.S. strategic resources are used
wisely in Africa, they can have the desired effect. In particular, the
U.S. military can play an important part in helping African militaries
professionalize. They close with concrete proposals through which the
U.S. Department of Defense and the Army could more effectively support
African democratization.
The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer this study as
a contribution to the ongoing debate over how the Army could better
promote U.S. national interests by helping to prevent conflicts rather
than simply responding once violence has broken out.