2009年7月30日，美国非洲司令部指挥官威廉·基普·沃德将军在吉布提港建立美国军事港口安全部队期间与水手交谈。经过美国海军勒莫尼耶营和吉布提海军数月的协调，新的港口安全部队成立。

近期，美国国防部宣布，将调整在非洲打击极端组织的美军部署，以支持2018年1月公布的《国防战略》报告中提及的其他优先任务。五角大楼称，目前非洲司令部下辖美军约7200人，军方计划在未来几年内将其至多减少10%。美国新发布的《国家安全战略报告》、《国防战略报告》等系列重大文件，已经明确宣布当前及今后一段时期美国的战略重点是应对“大国竞争”，反恐事项退居其次。12月13日，美国国家安全事务助理博尔顿宣布了美国对非新战略，其中提出美国在非洲的“三大优先事项”，与其全球战略重点相一致：第一，应对在非洲的大国竞争，保护非洲国家的“经济独立”和美国的国家安全利益。所谓大国竞争，博尔顿明确指出即是与中俄之间的竞争，其中中国是美国在非洲的头号竞争对手。第二，应对非洲各地激进的伊斯兰恐怖主义和其他形式暴力冲突的扩散。第三，确保向非洲提供的所有美国援助资金得到有效利用。

从美国政府公布的一系列重大战略文件来看，安全议题和反恐仍是特朗普政府对非洲的优先关切之一，但具有“避免直接卷入、更多依赖伙伴”的鲜明特点。“911”事件以来，非洲逐渐成为美国的新兴战场，美军通过各种方式持续渗透。美国对非外交政策甚至呈现出“轻经贸、重安全”的军事化趋势，这一趋势在中短期内恐怕不会发生根本改变。在此大趋势下，特朗普政府奉行“美国优先”，将对非战略重新定位在更注重现实利益的政治坐标上。面对非洲猖獗的暴恐势力，当下美国的应对思路主要是“支持伙伴关系”，避免再度发生类似于2017年10月“四名美军士兵尼日尔遇袭身亡”的恶性事件。所谓“伙伴关系”，按照特朗普政府《国防战略报告》描述，即“聚焦依靠非洲当地伙伴国和欧盟，与其合作并通过他们来削弱恐怖分子”；“支持非洲国家发展抵抗暴力极端主义、贩卖人口、跨国犯罪及非法武器交易所需能力”。这在12月博尔顿宣布的美国对非新战略中亦有体现，其以毛里塔尼亚、尼日尔、乍得、布基纳法索和马里组成的“萨赫勒五国安全部队”为例，表示美国将重点支持非洲国家自身的安全能力建设，而不是联合国维和行动。

美国自非洲“撤军”，主要是针对反恐优先性下降及其具体策略的调整，并不意味着美国抽身非洲，相反，为应对非洲的大国竞争，美国仍在“静悄悄”强化非洲军事存在。美国已清醒认识到，在非洲来自中俄的竞争同样激烈。近年俄罗斯通过军售、派遣军事顾问团队，深度插足中非共和国等非洲国家，大有重返非洲之势。中国在非洲的影响力迅速扩大，更是成为美国政要口中的“狼来了”，特朗普政府强调大国竞争，平衡中国在非洲的影响力已成为其对非政策重要目标。

一段时间以来，国际战略界有声音认为，非洲是美国治下全球秩序的最薄弱环节，中国有可能率先从非洲取得对美战略优势。从经贸影响力来看，中国对美已有可观优势，但从军事安全影响力来看，美国及其西方盟友从未放松对非洲管控，依然拥有比中国强大得多的影响力。近期，与“撤军”伴随的是美国通过其他方式加强了在非洲的军事存在，如在吉布提等多个战略支点国强化军事基础设施建设，为未来更大的军事参与预留空间。

总之，在美国提出从非洲撤军的同时，其出于应对大国竞争而采取各种强化在非军事存在的行动仍在继续。一减一增，实则是美国军事资源的再分配与优化。可以说，军事安全这只手越来越成为美国对非发挥影响力的关键，美国军事力量不会真正从非洲“撤离”。随着时间推移，非洲也将出现类似东南亚“经济发展更多靠中国，军事安全更多靠美国”的现象。

DJIBOUTI (July 30, 2009) Gen. William 'Kip' Ward, Commander, U.S. Africa Command, talks to Sailors during the establishment of a U.S. military harbor security force at the Port de Djibouti. The new harbor security force was established after months of coordination between the U.S. Navy's Camp Lemonier and the Djiboutian Navy.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it will adjust its military deployment in Africa to combat extremist organizations and support other priorities mentioned in the National Defense Strategy report published in January 2018. The Pentagon says that about 7,200 U.S. troops are currently under the command of the Africa Command, and the military plans to reduce the number of troops by as much as 10% in the next few years. Newly released documents such as the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy reports have made clear that the current strategic focus of the United States is to deal with great power competition and that counterterrorism is going to take a back seat. On December 13, U.S. National Security Affairs Advisor John Bolton announced the U.S.' new strategy for Africa, in which he laid out three priorities for the United States in Africa, consistent with the country's global strategic priorities.First, he said, the U.S. should deal with great power competitors in Africa and safeguard the economic independence of African states and protect U.S. national security interests. The so-called great power competitors that Bolton was referring are China and Russia, of which China is the U.S.' top competitor in Africa.Second, he said, the U.S. should respond to the continuing threat from radical Islamic terrorism and other violent conflicts across Africa.Third, he said, the U.S. should ensure that all U.S. assistance dollars sent to Africa are used effectively.

From the strategic documents released by the U.S. government, we can see that security issues and counterterrorism remain one of the priorities for the Trump administration's Africa strategy, but it has the distinctive features of avoiding direct involvement and relying more on partners. Since 9/11, Africa has gradually become an emerging battlefield for the United States and the U.S. military remains involved in various ways. U.S. foreign policy toward Africa is even showing signs of militarization, with a light focus on economics and a strong focus on security. This trend is not going to change fundamentally in the short to medium term. Under this general trend, the Trump administration is pursuing an “America First” foreign policy, with a focus firmly on real interests. In the face of the violence in Africa, the current U.S. response is mainly to support partnerships and avoid recurrence of incidents like the death of four U.S. soldiers in Niger in October 2017. The so-called partnerships, as described in the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy report, focus on working with and through local partners and the European Union to defeat terrorists; and to support African countries in building the capability required to counter violent extremism, human trafficking, trans-national criminal activity, and illegal arms deals. This is also reflected in the U.S.-Africa strategy announced by Bolton in December, which is based on the G5 Sahel Joint Force, comprised of Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mali. This indicates that the United States will focus on supporting African countries through building regional capability rather than strengthening UN peacekeeping operations.

The move to withdraw U.S. troops in Africa is mainly aimed at the shift away from counterterrorism and the adjustment of its strategy and does not mean that the United States has left Africa. On the contrary, the United States is quietly strengthening its military presence in Africa in response to great power competition there. The United States is aware that competition from China and Russia in Africa is fierce. In recent years, Russia has returned to Africa through arms sales, dispatching military advisors, and becoming deeply involved in African countries such as the Central African Republic. China's influence in Africa has expanded rapidly and it has become a wolf in the eyes of U.S. politicians. The Trump administration has emphasized great power competition and balancing China's influence in Africa has become an important goal of U.S. policy.

For some time, some people in the international strategic community have argued that Africa is the weakest link in the U.S. global order, and that China is likely to take a strategic lead there. From the perspective of economic influence, China has considerable advantages over the United States. However, from the perspective of military and security influence, the United States and its Western allies have never relaxed their control over Africa and still have more influence than China. Recently, along with the troop withdrawals, the United States is strengthening its military presence in Africa through other means, such as strengthening military infrastructure construction in several strategic fulcrum countries such as Djibouti in order to reserve space for greater military involvement in the future.

In short, while the United States is proposing to withdrawal troops from Africa, it is also strengthening its non-military presence in response to great power competition. A decrease here and an increase there is the U.S. military redistributing and optimizing its resources. It can be said that military security is increasingly becoming the key to U.S. influence in Africa. The U.S. military will not really withdraw from Africa. Over time, Africa is likely to appear like Southeast Asia; that is, it will depend more on China for economic development and more on the United States for security.