20.500.12592/rn9jd8
Defying the odds? Nigerien responses to foreign and domestic security challenges
26 January 2018
Summary
The increasing use of authoritarian measures against citizens and journalists has the potential to escalate further and to undermine the legitimacy of the government in the long-term. [...] While this situation is unlikely to destabilise the government in the short to medium-term, the standoff with opposition supporters has the potential to escalate domestic protests and to undermine the government’s legitimacy. [...] Ongoing protests against the government, serious questions about the conduct of the 2016 presidential election, the arrests of opposition leaders under dubious circumstances and violent crackdowns against protestors and journalists, are undermining the legitimacy of the president and his administration. [...] The paper further argues that Niger’s most pressing issue is the continued failure of the government to generate growth that benefits ordinary Nigeriens, reinforcing the potential to escalate domestic protests and to undermine the legitimacy of the government. [...] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Al-Mourabitoun and others operate along the Malian-Nigerien border (Walther and Miles, 2018; Walther, 2017; Warner, 2017).
