Since then, Washington has been reluctant to commit U.S. troops to African missions, except to evacuate its citizens from capital cities in the midst of strife. If there is a peacekeeping force just for Africa, then we can be forgotten entirely. With the ACRI, U.S. officials are hoping to take advantage of a new desire among Africans to tend crises in their back yards. Some of the take-charge fervor stems from the continent's impressive economic growth. Last year, sub-Saharan Africa's economy grew by 5 percent, the highest rate in more than a decade.
African countries are also more willing to assert themselves as their military capabilities improve.
Now, more than 15 African countries regularly contribute forces to the United Nations' peacekeeping missions. Even Nigeria, a country with a corrupt and repressive regime, is taking part. It runs peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone and Liberia. When Warren Christopher, as secretary of state, first proposed the ACRI during a swing through Africa last year, he envisioned a 10,000-person battalion that could be quickly dispatched to a crisis. African governments were hostile, fearing that a standing military could turn into a destabilizing force that would take sides in continental crises.