Since Donald Trump became President of the United States, North Africa and the African continent in general, have not been a strategic focus for Washington. But on the crisis in Libya, the US administration is trying to reengage these days and to be less reactive and more creative.
After allowing the Europeans to handle crises in the southern Mediterranean Sea, Washington is looking at the disastrous outcome of such European proxy and is attempting to play catch up. But the US is particularly concerned lately about the Russian interest in the region, and indeed across Africa. The Chinese continued expansion on the continent, and the increasing chatter about French and Italian oil firms Total and ENI possibly discovering major gas reserves off the coast of Skikda, Algeria, are bringing US diplomats to the region to see what can be done to influence events on the ground in favor of the US.
With Russian troops allegedly sighted fighting alongside Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, the Americans are become more interested in counter-balancing the situation. Yet it remains to be seen how far the Trump administration will be able to impose positive change in the region, when the Europeans have no appetite for effective problem solving in Libya, the Sahel, Algeria or anywhere else in the south.
