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National Security Strategy 1998

capabilities that threaten its neighbors, and to compel Libya to cease its support for terrorism and its attempts to undermine other governments in the region. The government of Libya has continued these activities despite calls by the Security Council that it demonstrate by concrete actions its renunciation of terrorism. Libya also continues to defy the United Nations by refusing to turn over the two defendants in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103. We remain determined that the perpetrators of this act and the attack on UTA 772 be brought to justice. We have moved to counter Sudan’s support for international terrorism and regional destabilization by imposing comprehensive sanctions on the Khartoum regime, continuing to press for the regime’s isolation through the UN Security Council, and enhancing the ability of Sudan’s neighbors to resist Khartoum-backed insurgencies in their countries through our Frontline States initiative.
Persistent conflict and continuing political instability in some African countries remain chronic obstacles to Africa’s development and to U.S. interests there, including unhampered access to oil and other vital natural resources. Our efforts to resolve conflict include working to fully implement the Lusaka Accords in Angola, sustaining the fragile new government in Liberia, supporting the recently restored democratic government in Sierra Leone and the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) efforts to ensure security there, and achieving a peaceful, credible transition to democratic government in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo-Brazzaville.
To foster regional efforts to promote prosperity, stability and peace in Africa, the United States in 1996 launched the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) to work with Africans to enhance their capacity to conduct effective peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. We are coordinating with the French, British, other donor countries and African governments in developing a sustainable plan of action. The United States has already trained battalions from Uganda, Senegal, Malawi, Mali and Ghana, and is planning to train troops in Benin and Cote D’Ivoire later this year. We are consulting closely on ACRI activity with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its Crisis Management Center, and African sub-regional organizations already pursuing similar capacity enhancements. We hope and expect that other African countries will also participate in the effort in the future, building a well-trained, interoperable, local capacity for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in a region that has been fraught with turbulence and crisis and all too dependent upon outside assistance to deal with these problems.
On April 1, 1998, President Clinton announced that the United States will be establishing the African Center for Security Studies (ACSS). The ACSS will be a regional center modeled after the George C. Marshall Center in Germany, designed in consultation with African nations and intended to promote the exchange of ideas and information tailored specifically for African concerns. The goal is for ACSS to be a source of academic yet practical instruction in promoting the skills necessary to make effective national security decisions in democratic governments, and engage African military and civilian defense leaders in a substantive dialogue about defense policy planning in democracies.

Promoting Prosperity
A stable, democratic, prosperous Africa will be a better economic partner, a better partner for security and peace, and a better partner in the fights against drug trafficking, crime, terrorism, disease and environmental degradation. An economically dynamic Africa will be possible only when Africa is fully integrated into the global economy. Our aim, therefore, is to assist African nations to implement economic reforms, create favorable climates for trade and investment, and achieve sustainable development. A majority of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 countries have adopted market-oriented economic and political reforms in the past seven years.
To support this positive trend, the President has proposed the Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa to support the economic transformation underway in Africa. The Administration is working closely with Congress to implement key elements of this initiative through rapid passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. By significantly broadening market access, spurring growth in Africa and helping the poorest nations eliminate or reduce their bilateral debt, this bill will better enable us to help African nations undertake difficult economic reforms and build better lives for their people through sustainable growth and development.
Further integrating Africa into the global economy has obvious political and economic benefits. It will also directly serve U.S. interests by continuing to expand an already important new market for U.S. exports. The more than 700 million people of sub-Saharan
Africa represent one of the world’s largest largely untapped markets. Although the United States enjoys only a seven percent market share in Africa, already 100,000 American jobs depend on our exports there. Increasing both the U.S. market share and the size of the African market will bring tangible benefits to U.S. workers and increase prosperity and economic opportunity in Africa. To encourage U.S. trade with and investment in Africa, we are pursuing several new initiatives and enhancements to the Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity, including greater market access, targeted technical assistance, enhanced bilateral and World Bank debt relief, and increased bilateral trade ties.
To further our trade objectives in Africa, the President inaugurated the Ron Brown Commercial Center in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 28, 1998. The Center, which is operated and funded by the Department of Commerce, provides support for American companies looking to enter or expand into the sub-Saharan African market. It promotes U.S. exports through a range of support programs and facilitates business contacts and partnerships between African and American businesses. The Center also serves as a base for other agencies such as the Export-Import Bank, the Trade Development Agency and USTR to expand their assistance to business.
Because safe air travel and secure airports are necessary for increasing trade, attracting investment, and expanding tourism, the President on April 1, 1998 announced the “Safe Skies for Africa” initiative. The goals of this $1.2 million program—funded by the Departments of State and Transportation—are to work in partnership with Africa to increase the number of sub-Saharan African countries that meet ICAO standards for aviation safety, improve security at 8-12 airports in the region within 3 years, and improve regional air navigation services in Africa by using modern satellite-based navigation aids and communications technology. The initiative focuses on safety assessments and security surveys in selected countries and formulating action plans together with Africa civil aviation authorities to bring aviation safety and security practices in Africa up to accepted world standards.
To support the desire of African nations to invest in a better and healthier future for their children, the President on March 24, 1998 announced three new initiatives to improve educational standards, ensure adequate food and agricultural production, and fight the deadly infectious diseases that claim the lives of too many African children.
• The Education for Development and Democracy Initiative seeks to boost African integration into the global community by improving the quality of, and technology for, education in Africa. The initiative is centered on community resource centers, public-private partnerships, and educating and empowering girls. We plan on spending approximately $120 million over two years in support of this initiative.

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