It is important that African nations, free of colonial and cold war influences, now develop their own national security strategies to deal with threats to or opportunities to advance their national interests. This is particularly important because of the many and evolving challenges they face from globalisation, climate change, internal strife, disease and non-state actors, including drug cartels and terrorists. National security strategies can be developed using an analytical model that considers national values, national interests, the strategic vision of its leaders, and the use of national powers to achieve these objectives. The model deviates from traditional national security analysis in that it does not focus primarily on the use of military power to achieve strategic objectives, but rather on a balanced and coordinated use of all elements of national power, including its diplomatic, political, economic, military, information and socio/psychological powers to advance the security of the nation.
