War Boys Episode Four: The Sahel

The Sahel region includes the countries of Chad, Niger and Mali that have all seen significant periods of unrest and coups overthrowing oftentimes democratically elected governments. Recently, Niger has expelled US troops and ordered the shutdown of one of America’s most important bases in Africa. Islamic terrorism is rampant in the region and the security situation does not seem to be improving even with the arrival of Russian advisors at the behest of local governments.

Sources:

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violent-extremism-sahel

https://apnews.com/article/niger-chad-us-troops-withdrawal-russia-aa852a79bac39aaa679af3663b56deaa

https://apnews.com/article/niger-military-government-soldiers-killed-8fc819fdec7af1be019049d54c866e5a

https://apnews.com/article/niger-coup-extremism-west-africa-ecowas-6cc3fa0b61adc6d9bcb2fb9745c4dcdf 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68879696

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/25/220-civilians-burkina-faso-human-rights-watch-killings-two-villages

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62052598 

https://hir.harvard.edu/how-france-failed-mali-the-end-of-operation-barkhane/ 

https://warontherocks.com/2022/02/why-france-failed-in-mali/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/12/russian-military-trainers-niger#:~:text=Russian%20military%20trainers%20have%20arrived,as%20it%20fights%20Islamist%20insurgents

https://web.archive.org/web/20190303005008if_/http://www.navyband.navy.mil/anthems/anthems/chad_may1990.mp3

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-niger-russia/

Music by Nadia Mécheri & Jean-Louis Lamande: https://archive.org/details/hoggar-musicadelostuareg

Cover Image: Christina Peters, Picture Alliance/Getty - https://www.internazionale.it/magazine/thomas-eydoux/2024/04/11/i-megafoni-africani-della-propaganda-russa