Abstract
This paper will discuss the United States security policy towards Africa based on the National Security Strategy from 2006 and the founding of US Africa Command, the new military combatant command that is supposed to unify US military efforts on the African continent. The paper will discuss whether AFRICOM and US actions in Africa could be seen as a true (newfound) American interest in Africa or whether actions that are considered low-key and low-budget in Washington are to be regarded as a true asymmetry because African states regard US action as important and significant. The paper will explain the US role in Africa using geopolitical theories derived from Zbigniew Brzezinski, Mahan and Thomas P.M. Barnett. The paper will explore the possible roles of AFRICOM as instrument of US foreign policy and the implications thereof for Danish policy on the African continent.