Morocco: Africa’s Great Stabilizer

On May 14, the U.S. Senate showed rare bipartisanship in authorizing the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act — a bill designed to foster U.S.-African trade and investment and incentivizing African countries to foster the conditions for free markets. It was a signal that, nearly a year since President Obama welcomed African leaders to Washington, the United States remains keen to play a role in the development of some of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

…

But Americans are also increasingly alert to the growing problem of terrorism emanating from Africa, which threatens to hold the continent hostage as well as imperil Americans and their allies globally. As Long War Journal editor Thomas Joscelyn noted in his testimony to Congress in April, declassified documents recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound document the extent to which Africa has been on the grid in al-Qaeda’s international operations. Bin Laden saw Qaeda affiliates south of the Sahara as a potent source of foot soldiers for attacks on the West. Meanwhile, with the expansion of ISIS from its beachheads in the Sinai and Libya through the Sahel and into West Africa, the prospect of new ISIS “provinces” is poised to jeopardize the painstaking progress many countries have made in stabilizing their economies and political systems.

… 

Read the full article here.