Information operations in Africa: An overlooked opportunity

With last year´s activation of US African Command (AFRICOM), the United States will now address its security concerns for that turbulent continent with operations realigned under one command instead of three. Information operations will necessarily dominate the Department of Defense´s activities in Africa - genocide, poverty, famine, epidemic and civil war are rarely if ever amenable to solution by direct armed intervention. Information Operations (IO) involves more than network and cyber operations, which is just one of its five core elements. IO also includes psychological operations, electronic warfare, operations security, and military deception. All of these will be important in AFRICOM, both in terms of their effectiveness and in their utility in the economy of force considerations that will be a permanent part of the security environment for the foreseeable future. This presentation considers the challenges and opportunities of IO in Africa from the point of view of culture, security, infrastructure, and level of development.