Most people have never heard about the Olmsted Scholar Program. Within the U.S. military, however, it is a big deal, somewhat akin to the Rhodes scholarship.
Since 1959, the program has sent around 600 officers to foreign universities and staff colleges, where they study in the local language for two and a half to three years. At the same time, host families help them integrate into the community. The emphasis on immersion is such that applicants may not study where there is an Olmsted scholar from the previous year. There are other practical concerns: For security reasons, Olmsteds no longer study in China, Hong Kong, or Russia. Still, the Olmsteds remain at the cutting edge of military diplomacy, and the relationships they strike while studying can last decades.
At the program’s inception, the Olmsteds studied in Western Europe. This made sense: The Cold War was in full swing. The emphasis on Europe has continued over subsequent decades. To date, there have been 376 Olmsteds in Europe, 129 in Asia, 69 in South America, and only 21 in Africa. The number who have studied in Africa is even less, however, when those who have studied in Rabat, Morocco, are omitted.
This is strategic malpractice.
Africa is the world’s second largest continent and home to 54 countries. More importantly, it is not only ground zero for 21st-century strategic competition — China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Morocco — but is also increasingly of counterterror concern: The Sahel is unstable. Ethiopia is on the verge of collapse, and Somalia may once again slip into civil war. An international coalition defeated piracy off the Horn of Africa, but it has reemerged in the Gulf of Guinea. Recent riots in South Africa are a dark cloud for that country’s stability.
The Pentagon has for too long treated foreign area officers as an afterthought. There are too few, and they are in the wrong places. The armed services do not consistently tap into their area of expertise or encourage them to keep language fluency current as they rotate into other duties.
It is time for that to change, especially with Africa. The Olmsteds would be a good place to start. Rwandan forces not only help to stabilize the eastern Congo but, in December 2020, rolled back a rebel advance in the Central African Republic. They did so even as the United Nations acted impotently. Earlier this month, the Rwandans deployed to northern Mozambique in coordination with the Southern African Development Community to fight the Islamic State. Senior Rwandan defense officials said they would welcome American officers in their staff colleges, but none have applied. Officials from Kenya, increasingly a pivotal state in the region, say they, too, would welcome American officers. Ditto Nigeria and Ghana.
It has now been almost 14 years since U.S. Africa Command became operational. Its establishment during the George W. Bush administration was a sign that Africa mattered and partnerships on the continent were important. For largely political reasons, though, AFRICOM has not lived up to its initial billing. The Obama administration largely ignored Africa, while Donald Trump treated the continent with disdain. The Biden administration’s policy remains one of strategic neglect.
Pentagon planning, however, should transcend administrations. Africa is in play even more than Europe. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should plan for the future rather than the past. If the Pentagon believes it needs French linguists, it should send them to Francophone Africa rather than Paris. Instead of encouraging yet another would-be German linguist when most German military officers speak English anyway, the department should favor aspiring Swahili or Yoruba speakers.
Simply put, if the United States intends to remain a global power and if the Biden administration truly wants to put diplomacy first, it should reverse the Olmsted ratios and ensure that Africa rather than Europe becomes the focus of some of America’s most talented officers.
Michael Rubin (@Mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
