An alarming string of military coups across the Sahel in recent years has greatly marginalized Western engagement in this important and highly volatile region. The Sahel — a four-thousand-mile expanse from the North African Sahara stretching from the Atlantic to the Red Sea coasts — is arguably the most unstable stretch of territory in the world today. And the stakes continue to rise.
This fact was vividly illustrated last month by a demand from the Nigerien junta that the United States withdraw the one-thousand troops stationed there to help counter violent extremism. This follows the forced departures of French, European Union, and United Nations peacekeeping forces, as well as troops from neighboring countries supporting regional security efforts. Similarly in Chad, which also experienced a coup in 2021, dozens of U.S. special forces personnel are expected to withdraw following a demand from the junta leadership — despite years of close security partnership.
Responding to this “loss of influence,” an increasing number of analysts and policymakers in Washington and Europe have called for Western governments to accommodate the juntas as a means of retaining “access.” Presented as pragmatic realism, the argument goes as follows: If the West recognizes the military juntas as legitimate and tolerates their heavy-handedness, then this might keep the door open to greater cooperation and perhaps a more effective response to the extremist insurgency.