Bottom Line
- Since 2020, the Sahel has experienced a string of coups and attempted coups from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.
- Six Sahel nations account for eight unconstitutional actions in a region that is the poorest in the world which has suffered from an increasing level of extremist violence.
- Russia has moved in to replace the vacuum caused by the withdrawal or ejection of US and French forces.
- While the prospects for democracy are dim in the short and medium term, the focus must be on the long game, with economic development as a priority to lift the overwhelmingly young population out of poverty.
- US policy towards the Sahel, as with all of sub-Saharan Africa, should be on developing long-term, democratic, stable relationships for the mutual benefit of all parties.
Authors
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- United States of America