The African continent is one of the most unstable places in the world and it will likely remain so for at least the next 20 years. One can expect civil wars, coups d'etat, resource exploitation, natural disasters and disease to keep the continent impoverished and backward. The U.S. is concerned about regional stability in Africa, and is looking at ways to assist African nations without having to commit U.S. troops and resources. Since Africa is such a diverse continent this research focuses entirely on West Africa, which currently has the most active subregional peacekeeping organization.

This thesis seeks to identify the appropriate level of U.S. military engagement in West Africa. The analysis begins by laying out the four military engagement programs that were designed for improving peacekeeping capacities. The four U.S. programs are African Crisis Response Initiative, Africa Contingency Operations Training Assistance, Operation Focus Relief, and International Military Education and Training. The paper follows with a discussion of the ECOMOG peacekeeping operations in West Africa (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau). Recommendations are provided based on the assessment of the change in ECOMOG's performance between its first deployment to Liberia and subsequent deployments with U.S. trained soldier's participation.

ADA 416450 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)