Africa Center for Strategic Studies

The Africa Center is an academic institution established by the U.S. Congress for the study of security issues relating to Africa. The Center serves as a forum for bilateral and multilateral research, communication, and the exchange of ideas. One of five geographically focused centers established within the Department of Defense, the Africa Center aims to be an objective source of strategic analysis on contemporary and over-the-horizon security issues for African security sector professionals, policymakers, scholars, media, and civil society, as well as international partners. As many African security challenges are nontraditional and societally based, the Africa Center engages with a wide range of security sector actors-civilian, uniformed, and civil society-with the aim of enhancing citizen security by strengthening the effectiveness and accountability of African security sector institutions. When was the Africa Center established? The Africa Center was established in March 1999 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It moved to its current location at the National Defense University at historic Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, DC, in April 2004. What are the Africa Center's main activities? The Africa Center has three main streams of interrelated activities: academic programs, community and alumni affairs, and research. In addition, the Center periodically supports requests to assist in strategic planning processes including national security strategy development, maritime security cooperation, security sector reform, and security sector institutional strengthening, among other areas. The Africa Center also regularly hosts public events, expert working groups, and interagency dialogues on vital Africa security issues.