International Military Education and Global Security Dynamics: Educating Africa's Next Generation of Generals

This book examines how international military education shapes global security dynamics and foreign policy decisions. Unlike existing scholarship that typically studies military education programs from different sponsors in isolation of each other, this book employs a comprehensive network approach to capture the competitive nature of international military education. It reveals how multiple sponsoring states simultaneously compete for influence, affecting everything from the establishment of education relationships to graduates' career trajectories and eventual foreign policy decisions. Drawing on original datasets, social network analysis, and case studies from Ghana, Tanzania, and Kenya, the book demonstrates that leaders' personal international military education experiences significantly shape their state's foreign policy decisions. By situating military education within hegemonic socialization theory, the book provides a nuanced understanding of how this understudied practice functions as a critical tool of statecraft in an increasingly competitive global environment. The findings offer actionable insights for navigating today's complex geopolitical landscape, including US-China-Russia competition and France's declining influence in West Africa. This book will appeal to scholars and students of international relations and security studies, professionals in military education institutions, and policymakers engaged in defense diplomacy and African foreign policy.

About the Author

Erin Lemons is Assistant Professor of International Affairs in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy West Point, United States. She holds a PhD in government from Georgetown University and an MA in German from the Pennsylvania State University. As a US Army officer, she has served in a variety of operational roles and deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Enduring Freedom.