When France ignored the warnings that preceded the putsch in Niger
The July putsch in Niger has placed France, the former colonial ruler, in an impasse with regard to its use of the country as a base for operations against armed jihadist insurgents in the Sahel region. With around 1,500 troops stationed in Niger, which Paris turned to last year as its principal West African ally after being forced to withdraw its military from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, the outcome of the present standoff with the new junta is uncertain. Rémi Carayol reports on how the explosive situation follows a series of blunders in France’s strategy in West Africa, where its presence has become increasingly unpopular.
“We“We were caught unawares,” was what one French diplomat, whose brief is the Sahel region and who asked for his name to be withheld, said of the July 26th military coup in Niger. He might have added “once again”, given the similar events surrounding the coup in Mali in 2021, and that in Burkina Faso in 2022.
