Testimony of Dr. J. Peter Pham, Directory, The Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs, James Madison University, at the Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health hearing “Africa Command:   Opportunity for Engagement or the Militarization of the U.S. Africa Subcommittee on Relationship?” on August 2, 2007:

I am honored by the invitation to appear today before the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and am grateful for the opportunity to add my voice to those of my distinguished colleagues on a subject which I have studied, written about, and advocated on behalf of, for a number of years: a United States Department of Defense regional unified combatant command for Africa that offers the potential for sustained engagement of a region where America has very real strategic interests.