THE Pentagon has created a center for African strategic studies, which will hold its first seminar in Dakar from October 31 to November 12. Forty-three countries from all parts of the continent, as well as nations like Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal will be represented at the meeting, interim director Nancy Walker said. US General Wesley Clark, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s supreme commander in Europe, and General Anthony Zinni, head of US Central Command, will also attend. The center plans to organize military and civilian exchanges and promote a balance between democracy and security on the continent, center official Bryant Shaw said.