Until the recent military takeover in July 2023, Niger had played a key role in the security architecture of the West, particularly the United States and France, in the Sahel region. Niger hosts US and French military bases, while international support in different fields has increased exponentially in recent years. All of this may force Western decision-makers to rethink their security policies in the Sahel. France: A backfiring policyFrance is another conventional security actor in the Sahel region. After the coup in Mali, France withdrew the soldiers deployed there and shifted a significant part of them to Niger.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 15, 2023 13:54 UTC