In his first term, President Barack Obama instructed the Pentagon to pivot its forces and reorient its strategy toward fast-growing Asia. Instead, the U.S. military finds itself drawn into a string of messy wars in a much poorer part of the world: Africa.
Over the past two years, the Pentagon has become embroiled in conflicts in Libya, Somalia, Mali and Central Africa. The U.S. Air Force is setting up a fourth African drone base, while U.S. Navy warships are increasing their missions along the coastlines of East and West Africa.
The U.S. military involvement in Africa still barely registers when compared with its presence in Asia, let alone the Middle East or Afghanistan. There are only about 5,000 U.S. troops in all of Africa, while 28,000 are stationed in South Korea alone.