Volume 08 Issue 2, Summer 2017

Rémy M. Mauduit
 
As usual, this issue of Air and Space Power Journal-Africa and Francophonie addresses diverse topics relevant to our time and its readers in 185 countries. 

Barah Mikaïl, PhD  
 
Sectarianism has experienced a boost in the aftermath of popular uprisings in the Arab world. Recent sectarian strife following the fall of Arab authoritarian leaders has been provoked by ideological rifts between Islamists and secularists and between conservatives and liberals, as well as by religious divisions between Sunnis and Shias, Muslims and Christians. However, the rise of sectarian strife in the aftermath of the 2011 uprisings has also been stoked by geopolitical strategies as power vacuums create opportunities for political ambitions and agendas. While sectarianism is real and bears important risks, it is not the main driver of divisions in the region. The West must not lose sight of the fact that many regimes are stirring up sectarianism while neglecting other cleavages, such as regional agendas, a lack of respect for human rights, corruption, and poor economic conditions.  

R. Evan Ellis, PhD  
 
Professor Evan Ellis posits that it is time to consider how to engage with Latin America and the Caribbean more effectively, for both the United States and those partner nations and the family with whom we share the region. No other region of the world more directly affects the prosperity and security of the United States. No other region of the world trades more with, or has more investments from the United States, than Latin America and the Caribbean. By implication, there is no region which more directly affects continuing American economic security and prosperity. Dr. Ellis emphasizes that the US engagement with the region should focus on the importance of partnerships with the countries of the region, based on mutual respect. Moreover, the United States should evaluate the dynamics of Latin America and the Caribbean and its own actions in the region in the context of the greater set of global relationships and conditions in which the region is situated.  

Col John L. Conway III, USAF, Retired  
 
Col John L. Conway III, USAF, retired, argues that an Air Force Arctic strategy should complement the Department of Defense Arctic Strategy with Air Force capabilities and should highlight in-place USAF assets, and identify those that rapidly can be deployed to the Arctic.  It also should design partnerships with sister services and other High North nations to assure safety and security in accordance with international law and agreements within the Arctic Council. He concludes that without an Air Force Arctic strategy to articulate its way ahead and to remain silent on issues that are clearly within the Air Force's purview is to allow other services to dictate its roles and missions.  

Steinar Andresen, G. Kristin Rosendal, PhD  
 
Most major regional and global environmental agreements are equipped with scientific advisory panels, state Mr. Steinar Andresen and Dr. G. Kristin Rosendal in this article, suggesting that the most comprehensive and sophisticated one is probably the IPCC. Research indicates that such panels are necessary but not sufficient to secure effective management. Somewhat peculiar, the biodiversity regime was not equipped with a scientific panel until the IPBES was established in 2011.  

Kofi Nsia-Pepra, PhD  
 
For Professor Kofi Nsia-Pepra, democracy is widely expected to restrain corruption. Ghana, however, is an exception with cancerous corruption. Ghana's exceptionalism is simply due to its mischaracterization by Freedom House as a full democracy rather than flawed democracy as appropriately characterized by the Economic Intelligence Unit. The mischaracterization has masked the exploration of the correlation between Ghana's so-called "democracy" and its endemic corruption despite the numerous scholarly works. In the theme developed by Dr. Pepra in this article, he recommends good governance encapsulating political will, ethical leadership and environment, effective laws, agencies, administration and deterrent punishment as fundamental to curbing corruption in Ghana.

Maj Ryan McCaughan, USAF   
 
Maj Ryan McCaughan, USAF, analyzes the challenges associated with airlift in Sub-Saharan Africa, how the United States and partners have attempted to address these issues in the past, and why those attempts have been insufficient. A qualitative research methodology has been utilized to show that the status quo model of support has proven insufficient and expensive and only through a comprehensive, coordinated approach, which aligns the efforts of the United States, the African Union, US industry, capable African partners, and other interested Western nations, will this problem finally be resolved.