Comment & Analysis - September 08, 2011

Africa's “King of Kings” Is Out, Long Live His Wealth!

This summer, I was invited to speak at the Africa Center's Senior Leaders Seminar on post-conflict transitions in Washington, DC. Participants were mostly senior African military leaders, and the discussion session drifted to Libya. When one officer asked what the regional implications of the conflict in Libya could be, I thought that he, as a security expert, wanted to discuss refugees, mercenaries, and weapons crossing borders. But he quickly corrected me. “The question was about economic security,” he said.