2009年7月30日，美國非洲司令部指揮官威廉·基普·沃德將軍在吉布提港建立美國軍事港口安全部隊期間與水手交談。經過美國海軍勒莫尼耶營和吉布提海軍數月的協調，新的港口安全部隊成立。

近期，美國國防部宣布，將調整在非洲打擊極端組織的美軍部署，以支持2018年1月公布的《國防戰略》報告中提及的其他優先任務。五角大樓稱，目前非洲司令部下轄美軍約7200人，軍方計劃在未來幾年內將其至多減少10%。美國新發佈的《國家安全戰略報告》、《國防戰略報告》等系列重大文件，已經明確宣布當前及今後一段時期美國的戰略重點是應對“大國競爭”，反恐事項退居其次。12月13日，美國國家安全事務助理博爾頓宣布了美國對非新戰略，其中提出美國在非洲的“三大優先事項”，與其全球戰略重點相一致：第一，應對在非洲的大國競爭，保護非洲國家的“經濟獨立”和美國的國家安全利益。所謂大國競爭，博爾頓明確指出即是與中俄之間的競爭，其中中國是美國在非洲的頭號競爭對手。第二，應對非洲各地激進的伊斯蘭恐怖主義和其他形式暴力衝突的擴散。第三，確保向非洲提供的所有美國援助資金得到有效利用。

從美國政府公布的一系列重大戰略文件來看，安全議題和反恐仍是特朗普政府對非洲的優先關切之一，但具有“避免直接捲入、更多依賴夥伴”的鮮明特點。“911”事件以來，非洲逐漸成為美國的新興戰場，美軍通過各種方式持續滲透。美國對非外交政策甚至呈現出“輕經貿、重安全”的軍事化趨勢，這一趨勢在中短期內恐怕不會發生根本改變。在此大趨勢下，特朗普政府奉行“美國優先”，將對非戰略重新定位在更注重現實利益的政治坐標上。面對非洲猖獗的暴恐勢力，當下美國的應對思路主要是“支持夥伴關係”，避免再度發生類似於2017年10月“四名美軍士兵尼日爾遇襲身亡”的惡性事件。所謂“夥伴關係”，按照特朗普政府《國防戰略報告》描述，即“聚焦依靠非洲當地夥伴國和歐盟，與其合作並通過他們來削弱恐怖分子”；“支持非洲國家發展抵抗暴力極端主義、販賣人口、跨國犯罪及非法武器交易所需能力”。這在12月博爾頓宣布的美國對非新戰略中亦有體現，其以毛里塔尼亞、尼日爾、乍得、布基納法索和馬里組成的“薩赫勒五國安全部隊”為例，表示美國將重點支持非洲國家自身的安全能力建設，而不是聯合國維和行動。

美國自非洲“撤軍”，主要是針對反恐優先性下降及其具體策略的調整，並不意味着美國抽身非洲，相反，為應對非洲的大國競爭，美國仍在“靜悄悄”強化非洲軍事存在。美國已清醒認識到，在非洲來自中俄的競爭同樣激烈。近年俄羅斯通過軍售、派遣軍事顧問團隊，深度插足中非共和國等非洲國家，大有重返非洲之勢。中國在非洲的影響力迅速擴大，更是成為美國政要口中的“狼來了”，特朗普政府強調大國競爭，平衡中國在非洲的影響力已成為其對非政策重要目標。

一段時間以來，國際戰略界有聲音認為，非洲是美國治下全球秩序的最薄弱環節，中國有可能率先從非洲取得對美戰略優勢。從經貿影響力來看，中國對美已有可觀優勢，但從軍事安全影響力來看，美國及其西方盟友從未放鬆對非洲管控，依然擁有比中國強大得多的影響力。近期，與“撤軍”伴隨的是美國通過其他方式加強了在非洲的軍事存在，如在吉布提等多個戰略支點國強化軍事基礎設施建設，為未來更大的軍事參與預留空間。

總之，在美國提出從非洲撤軍的同時，其出於應對大國競爭而採取各種強化在非軍事存在的行動仍在繼續。一減一增，實則是美國軍事資源的再分配與優化。可以說，軍事安全這隻手越來越成為美國對非發揮影響力的關鍵，美國軍事力量不會真正從非洲“撤離”。隨着時間推移，非洲也將出現類似東南亞“經濟發展更多靠中國，軍事安全更多靠美國”的現象。

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.