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On Thursday, November 21, 2013 the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs held a hearing titled, “African Political, Economic and Security Issues.” The hearing was divided into two panels. The first panel testifying included: Alina Romanowski, the deputy assistant administrator of the Bureau for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development; Richard Schmierer, principle deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State; and Amanda Dory, deputy assistant secretary for African Affairs at the Department of Defense. The second panel testifying included, Dr. William Lawrence, visiting professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs; Dr. Frederic Wehrey, senior associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The subcommittee’s chairperson, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) presided over the hearing.
For complete notes, continue reading of click here for a pdf.
Senator Tim Kaine opened the hearing by noting the impact of the Arab Spring on not only Tunisia and Libya but also Algeria and Morocco. Senator Kaine said that the United States is concerned with the deterioration of security, which has threatened the region including friends and allies of the United States. He argued, “Since 2010, U.S. policy has sought to encourage openness without undermining efforts to combat terrorism.” The Senator then spoke briefly about each country in the region. He described Morocco as a staunch counterterrorism and business partner, and stated that Morocco remains a “positive example for the way the U.S. engages with the region.” With regards to Algeria, he asked the panelists to discuss the relationship between Morocco and Algeria, specifically with regards to the Western Sahara, and highlighted Algeria’s role as a key counterterrorism ally of the United States. Senator Kaine summarized the political crisis in Tunisia and expressed optimism that the ruling Islamist Ennahda party is engaging in “real and substantive” national dialogue. Finally, Senator Kaine said Libya’s “security threatens prospects for a democratic transition,” and asserted the militia must be disarmed and reintegrated, while porous borders remain an ongoing challenge.
Mr. Richard Schmierer argued that the Maghreb is a region of tremendous potential. He highlighted the rapid transitions in Tunisia and Libya, and stated while “Morocco and Algeria have undertaken a more gradual reform process, they remain key regional sources of stability and have assumed increasingly important roles in our global efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.” He praised Morocco’s King Mohammed VI for gradual reforms, and said the U.S. would support these efforts. Mr. Schmierer stressed the developing relationship with Algeria and said the U.S. “has encouraged Algeria to expand its regional leadership role.” On Libya, Mr. Schmierer argued supporting Libya is in our national security interest. He stressed that the State Department will seek to support elections and civil society, and is in the process of implementing a Global Security Contingency Fund to assist with border security, while also agreeing to assist in training a Libyan General Force of 5,000-8,000 Libyan troops. With regards to Tunisia, Mr. Schmierer articulated that the State Department is “encouraging Tunisian leaders to continue efforts to finalize a constitution that respects the universal rights of all Tunisians and set an election date.” He concluded his statement by reiterating, “the region remains vital to protect our national interests.”
Ms. Amanda Dory’s remarks focused around the security challenges throughout the region.
Ms. Dory said the Defense Department focused on institutional capacity building and regional cooperation to support and maintain a “limited but effective military footprint in the region.” She specifically highlighted the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, as a multiyear regional program that brings the Defense Department, State Department, and USAID together to “build the capacity and resilience of governments and communities of the Sahel and Maghreb to address the threat of violent extremist organizations.” Ms. Dory then turned to security challenges in each country. In Libya, Ms. Dory explained, the Defense Department focuses on counterterrorism and securing and eliminating chemical weapons stockpiles. She also said the U.S. is working with Libya to increase capacity for border security and have agreed to train a General Purpose Force in order to help the Libyan government “build institutions and forces in order to maintain stability.” Ms. Dory praised the Tunisian military for “supporting and protecting the populace during the transition” and noted, “Our assistance to the security sector focuses on counterterrorism, border security, and the continuation of long standing programs such as the international military education and training program (IMET) and foreign military financing.” Algeria, she said, was a “linchpin in the struggle against Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” and the Defense Department seeks to cooperate with Algeria to “provide IMET, information sharing, and exercises.” She concluded that Morocco remains a “strong partner in counterterrorism” for the United States.
Ms. Alina Romanowski began her remarks discussing USAID’s work in Libya, where the organization has worked to develop governance and civil society. She noted that USAID seeks to “promote women’s empowerment” through training and economic growth programs, and will continue to work with Libyans as they write their constitution. Mr. Romanowski then discussed programming in Tunisia, where USAID launched the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund to “develop the private sector, expand access to credit and help small and medium sized business” and provide loan guarantees and cash transfers to assist Tunisia in addressing “long-term financing needs.” Finally, Ms. Romanowski discussed assistance to Morocco. Ms. Romanowski announced the U.S.’s new five-year strategy to “work side by side with the government of Morocco, civil society and the private sector to enhance the employability of Morocco’s large youth demographic, improve the education system, strengthen the civil society organizations, and improve the credibility and transparency of political parties.”
During the Q&A, Senator Kaine asked about regional cooperation including the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Program, and G8 programs such as the Deauville Partnership for Arab Transitions, a multilateral program to bolster assistance and economic growth throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Senator Kaine also asked about bilateral cooperation with Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.
Dr, William Lawrence began the second panel. He argued that North Africa is still in a “world historical moment” where events accelerate. He argued that North Africa played a much larger role than other countries in the region during the revolutions, and North Africa continues to be the leader in change for the region. Moreover, Dr. Lawrence said that Bloody Friday could be a major turning point in Libya’s transition as the public has risen up against militias. Dr. Lawrence also commented that “Libya is not one big mess but a bunch of little messes that aren’t very related,” but the policy community tends to conflate these issues because there are no military and police. He urged further focus on the transnational and subnational level, and discussed “filters,” which distort news from the region such as the “Egypt filter” in which the U.S. tends to filter the direction of the region through the events of Egypt. He argued that Syria, not Egypt is having the biggest impact on the region by contributing flows of jihadists and militias throughout the region. Moreover, Dr. Lawrence argued stability should not be our number one goal, as “Stability for stability’s sake has destabilizing effects on the region.” He also argued that the U.S. and international communities have failed to integrate the informal sector which is responsible for a large component of job creation, and that the international community must turn this sector “into an area of growth rather than an area to be eradicated.” With regards to youth, Dr. Lawrence said, “we have not sufficiently adjusted our investment policies” to assist the key sectors of society. Finally, Dr. Lawrence said we must ask how our policies “affect the young people that are trying to emulate our system,” and do more with economic assistance, political reform, and increase our diplomatic footprint in Libya and Tunisia.
Dr. Frederic Wehrey discussed the impact of the Libyan militias on the country’s transition. He said that peaceful protesters have demanded that Mizratan militia leave Tripoli and were killed in the process. This led to protests and strikes to force the militia to leave. The U.S. General Purpose Force is a sound idea, but may fail if several key issues are not resolved such as its mission, oversight, and inclusiveness may polarize the country further. Dr. Wehrey highlighted five key steps to resolve this potentiality. First, the General Purpose Force’s role must be clarified. He argued that Libya needs a specialized gendarmerie to tackle border security, trafficking, and policing. Second, Dr. Wehrey said, “civilian oversight of this force must take place,” as “Libya’s revolution was not launched to replace one Colonel with another.” Third, the force must act and be perceived as nonpartisan and professional. To ensure this, recruits must be drawn from a large spectrum of Libyan society and be made of mixed units. Fourth, the U.S. and Libyan authorities must “vet recruits for aptitude, human rights violations, and criminal history” as poorly screened recruits may otherwise “mutiny”. Fifth, the training effort must be accompanied by a parallel effort to demobilize and reintegrate militias into society. To ensure this, militias must receive social and economic incentives to enter the university, the work force, or the professional army. Dr. Wehrey argued this would prevent militia bosses from destabilizing the transition. Finally, Dr. Wehrey concluded that the U.S. must proceed cautiously, as training and equipment alone will be insufficient to resolve the militia problem. Rather, legitimacy must be created through a national dialogue, constitution, and representative government with the capacity to distribute resources across the country.
Finally, Mr. Thomas Joscelyn discussed the linkages between various terror networks in the region. He argued, “Ansar al-Sharia is firmly a component of the al-Qaeda network in North Africa” – in both Libya and Tunisia. He argued that this is important because it demonstrates al-Qaeda has regional interests, not merely global interests.
In the questioning period, Senator Kaine asked the panelists questions on the regional prospects of terrorism, the organization and divisions of Libyan militias, the need for additional financial assistance to build pilot programs in Libya, and the impact of Salafist radicalism throughout the region.