Why Trump’s Somalia gambit won’t make anyone happy
But Biden could turn it around by making the new Congress decide whether to put troops back into the country, or not.
Elizabeth Shackelford was a U.S. diplomat until December 2017 when she resigned in protest of the administration. She served in Somalia, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, DC. Elizabeth is a fellow with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age,” to be published in May 2020.
But Biden could turn it around by making the new Congress decide whether to put troops back into the country, or not.
For decades, our Africa policy has taken a blunt approach, quickly designating the good guys and the bad and painting each with a broad brush that demands unquestioning loyalty or enmity.
Addressing only the offenses of the Trump administration will not help us build back a better foreign policy than we had before.
The U.S.’s military-first approach to counterterrorism in Africa has failed.