Global Security Initiative and China-Africa Security Cooperation

Against the backdrop of changes unseen in a century unfolding at an unprecedented pace， Africa is faced with unprecedentedly complicated security challenges. On the one hand， the existing security challenges within Africa are compounded by emerging challenges; on the other hand， ever deteriorating external security environment is imposing a kind of structural pressure on Africa. Faced with the bitter reality of increasing deficits in peace and security globally， Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the Global Security Initiative （GSI）， providing the international community with a new type of international public goods in the field of security. As a critical pillar of China-Africa community for security， the GSI will contribute to the building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and stand as a regional and sectoral example of the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

More Complicated Security Challenges in Africa

Since the end of the Cold War， security situation in Africa has roughly undergone four stages： in the 1990s， the outbreak of accumulated internal conflicts as the bipolar structural pressure exerted by the United States and the Soviet Union disappeared dragged Africa into “a decade of civil war”; after the 9·11 Attack in 2001， global counter-terrorism efforts became a new structural pressure that forced Africa into “a decade of counter-terrorism”; after the 2011 uprisings in the Arab Middle East， security threats arising from the grassroots became a new source of security challenges and Africa entered a new “decade of grassroots”; entering the third decade of the 21st century， Africa is faced with the complex interplay of internal and external as well as existing and emerging security crisis， mainly manifested in five aspects.

First， violence is more grass-rooted. Since 2011， Africa has witnessed the fundamental changes of security challenges， with non-structural violence replacing structural violence as the dominant challenge. The so-called structural violence refers to top-down violence mainly initiated by the state and its agents， such as conflicts between government forces and rebels and government repression of civilians. Correspondingly， non-structural violence refers to bottom-up violence initiated by the society， with such typical examples as political protests， social hatred and violence. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset （ACLED）， between 1997 and 2008， the share of non-structural violence in all security incidents in Africa was consistently below 30%， dipping to the bottom of less than 20% in 2002. Ever since 2011， non-structural violence has become the major source of security challenges in Africa， with its share in all violent incidents rocketing from 35.05% in 2010 to 49.77% and still standing at above 40% till today. In the meantime， public self-defense efforts， especially by local militias， have become major players in non-structural violence， with Burkina Faso’s Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland （VDP） being the most typical example.

Second， terrorists and bandits are collaborating. The counter-terrorism missions carried out by the United States in the Middle East resulted in expanding terrorist activities across the African continent. For example， among the top 10 countries in the world faced with the most acute threat of terrorism， only two African countries， Somalia （ranked 5th） and Nigeria （8th）， were listed in 2011; and only Nigeria （2nd）， Egypt （7th）， and Somalia （8th） were listed in 2015. But by 2020， the number of African countries in this list has increased to 5， including Somalia （3rd）， Nigeria （4th）， Burkina Faso （6th）， Mali （7th） and Mozambique （9th）. Deaths caused by terrorism worldwide in 2023 increased by 22% compared with 2022， the highest record since 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa still ranks top in the world， with the Sahel region witnessing the most deaths， where almost half of terrorist attacks in Africa took place and 26% of global terrorist attacks happened. Burkina Faso is the country suffering the most severe threat of terrorism. Terrorist groups in Africa are gradually penetrating into communities and functioning more and more like organized crime groups. The two may coexist， collaborate or even converge. This means that “the collaboration between terrorists and bandits” is becoming normal in Africa， with such criminal activities as kidnapping， gold mine robbery， illegal economy and collecting protection fees becoming the means of survival for terrorist groups.

Third， security threats are crossing borders and networked. Only 35% of Africa’s 170，000-kilometer international borders have been officially delineated， with a total of 109 disputed sections. Permeable borders mean not only highly convenient interference among neighboring African countries， but also rampant opportunities for terrorism， organized crime and illegal economy among others. Therefore， since 2020， previously highly-dispersed terrorist activities in Africa have gradually concentrated in the border area of Kenya and Somalia in East Africa， the Lake Chad region in Central Africa and the Sahel region in West Africa. From a broader perspective of conflicts or instability， security challenges in Africa are mainly concentrated in four cross-border regions： Mano River region， the Horn of Africa， the Great Lakes region， and the Sahel-Maghreb.

Fourth， coups are more frequent. Western countries tend to observe the new wave of coups in Africa since 2019 through the lens of “democratic regression”. But this round of coups features anti-colonial endeavors and indicates that African countries are unaccustomed to the “Western democracy”. This new round of coups since 2019 were mostly launched on the pretext of the incapability of the incumbent governments to fulfill their missions of security， governance， and development， receiving the acquiescence and approval of the general public. A series of public opinion polls conducted by the Afrobarometer show that although democratic politics have received popular support， the public who are suspicious of the proper functioning of democracy is also poised to tolerate coups. According to a survey in 2022， the public （67%） who oppose military rule has decreased by 8 percentage points， with 53% believing that military intervention is acceptable in the event of elected officials abusing their power; The proportion of young people aged between 18 and 35 who hold this view is even higher （56%）. Only 43% of the public believe that the armed forces should not interfere in politics whatsoever.