Senegal and Liberia

This Note was prepared as part of a larger project entitled "Effectiveness of U.S. Military Training Activities in Promoting Internal Defense and Development in the Third World." The purpose of the project is to assess the effectiveness of programs to train U.S. students in foreign internal defense (FID) and foreign students in internal defense and development (IDAD), to examine the benefits that the United States derives from these programs, and to consider how future efforts can be improved and strengthened. This Note compares and contrasts U.S. training programs in Liberia and Senegal. Specifically, it examines the history, background, and internal defense and development issues; the strategic importance of the two nations that resulted in U.S. involvement there; and the training programs the United States has provided for the purpose of improving the internal defense and development of those nations. The Note then examines the specific IDAD requirements for each of the nations and, on the basis of those requirements, assesses the value of current training and postulates specific issues that should be addressed in order to improve each nation's IDAD. It also examines the utility of the expanded International Military Education and Training (IMET-E) program, which is designed to broaden training to relevant civilian members of foreign governments in particular courses of study so that they can develop a better understanding of civil-military operations, programming and budgeting, the judicial system, and human rights.