Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Explainer: How the military coup in Niger threatens stability in West Africa

"Are colonial-era borders drawn by Europeans holding Africa back?
[...]These borders were not drawn with much attention or sympathy to the people already living on the continent -- most of the European diplomats negotiating new territorial borders had little or no knowledge of the terrain or populations they were apportioning. In 1890, the British Prime Minister noted that “we have been giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each other, only hindered by the small impediment that we never knew exactly where the mountains and rivers and lakes were.”
P - By the time World War I began, the continent was crisscrossed with novel political borders that had little significance to the people on the ground. Most African colonies gained independence as new nations during the 1950s and 1960s, and in many cases inherited the borders that had been haphazardly drawn decades before. That left many ethnic groups divided across borders, sparking strife and civil wars, and leaving the continent with dozens of separatist movements .. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/the-dividing-of-a-continent-africas-separatist-problem/262171/ .. even today.
June, 2016 - "Blood borders .. How a better Middle East would look""

Yep. The Republican race has begun in the US too. Trump indictments and excitements ahead. A vote
for Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris for president. Hmm, not cool to open with a lie like that Nikki ..
https://www.audacy.com/kmox/news/national/haley-says-a-vote-for-biden-is-a-vote-for-president-harris

-----
Related: Analysts: Niger Coup by Elite Presidential Guard Might Be Short Lived
July 27, 2023 1:33 PM
Mariama Diallo

Supporters of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum gather to show their support for him in Niamey on July 26, 2023.
Nairobi — Analysts say the apparent coup attempt in Niger was not totally surprising, given the West African nation’s history of political upheaval. There have been four successful coups and numerous attempted coups since Niger won independence from France in 1960. But analysts say because President Mohamed Bazoum comes from a minority group within Niger and was elected on a platform of pursuing many reforms, he may have encountered resistance from the more dominant ethnic groups.
[...]Democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum took the oath of office in April 2021. Dr. Edgar Githua, an international relations and diplomacy expert teaching at the U.S. International University in Nairobi, told VOA the latest political unrest was not unexpected.
P - “This is a country that has endured four coups in its history ... so the political culture in Niger is that the military feels very entitled or have been enabled to feel that they really need to play a role in politics,” Githua said.
P - Githua says President Bazoum’s ethnic background could be another possible reason.
P - “He’s a Diffa Arab, and he came from a minority group ... he came in and he was making lots of changes because he inherited a country that had bigger ethnic groups ... we are talking about the Hausas, the Zamas, the Tuaregs, ... and normally what happens for such presidents who inherit constituencies where they come from a minority, ... they feel like they are under sieged. ... because ... you are in the minority and the other people who control government are from other ethnic groups who believe or do not feel, you deserve to lead them,” said Githua.
P - The West African economic bloc ECOWAS, the African Union and others in the international community have condemned the events in Niger and have called on the president to be freed immediately.
[...]Githua says he does not think this coup attempt will stick.
P - “The European Union, the US and France will not let Niger go down. ... This is their bastion of hope in the region in containing the excessive incursions, rebellions, terrorism and al Qaeda activities in that region, Boko haram and the likes. ...The U.S. already have troops stationed in Niger, they are special forces, around 1,000, France has quite a number," said Githua. "They will rally around the people.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/analysts-niger-coup-by-elite-presidential-guard-might-be-short-lived/7200633.html
-----

By Nellie Peyton
July 28, 20239:17 AM GMT+10 Updated 2 days ago

VIDEO

July 27 (Reuters) - Niger's regional and international partners are scrambling to respond to a military coup .. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/niger-president-says-democracy-will-be-saved-following-coup-2023-07-27/ .. which political analysts say could have grave consequences for democratic progress and the fight against an insurgency by jihadist militants in West Africa.

Here is what is at stake.

'ONLY HOPE' FOR STABILITY IN SAHEL

Niger became a democratic outlier in West Africa's Sahel region following military takeovers in neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad since 2020.

All four countries of the arid Sahel region, just south of the Sahara, are now run by military leaders after soldiers in Niger said on Wednesday night they had ousted .. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/soldiers-nigers-presidential-guard-blockade-presidents-office-security-sources-2023-07-26/ .. President Mohamed Bazoum.

Western nations have poured resources into Niger to bolster its security forces in the face of a growing insurgency by Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

The landlocked country had become the West's "only hope" in the region to fight the militants, said one analyst, as military rulers in Mali and Burkina Faso have increasingly turned toward Russia as a strategic ally .. https://www.reuters.com/world/burkina-faso-interim-leader-hails-russia-strategic-ally-2023-05-05/ , distancing themselves from partners such as France.

---
[ Insert: Cue Prigozhin -- Wagner's fearsome mercenaries were forced out of Ukraine after a failed mutiny. Many are now unleashing horrors in Mali
By Middle East correspondent Tom Joyner Posted Fri 28 Jul 2023 at 6:00am
[...]On a Friday in June, the government of Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa about the size of the Northern Territory, made a surprising request.
P - They wanted the roughly 13,000 UN peacekeepers stationed there to pack up and leave as soon as possible.
P - For a decade, peacekeepers from 55 nations have been deployed in Mali...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-28/prigozhin-wagner-forces-in-mali/102634326 ]
---

The United States says it has spent around $500 million since 2012 to help Niger boost its security. The U.S. maintains a strong military presence in the country, where it has previously deployed armed drones.

KEY SECURITY PARTNER


Hundreds of supporters of the coup gather and hold a Russian flag in front of the National Assembly in the capital Niamey, Niger July 27, 2023. REUTERS/Souleymane Ag Anara

Frustration over insecurity spurred the coups in Mali and Burkina Faso, although data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a crisis monitoring group, shows that violence has worsened in those countries since military juntas took control.

While it has managed to protect citizens better than its neighbours, Niger still suffers frequent militant attacks and rural banditry, according to ACLED.

France, which has had counter-insurgency troops in West Africa for a decade, has turned to Niger to base the bulk of its forces.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 French troops are based in the country, with support from drones and warplanes. Their role is solely to support Niger's army when local forces identify operations in the border regions connecting Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

The European Union decided in December to set up a three-year military training mission in Niger, to which Germany contributes troops .. https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-join-eu-military-training-mission-niger-2023-04-28/ . Italy also has about 300 soldiers in the country.

DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDE

For leaders of the regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the military uprising in Niger is a blow to its efforts to shore up democracy.

Following coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau, the leaders of ECOWAS vowed that coups will no longer be tolerated in the region, which had been making strides toward shedding its "coup-belt" moniker before the latest wave.

Niger will be another test of the resolve and ability of regional leaders to dissuade soldiers from seizing power and convince them to return countries to democratic rule.

Following a summit in Guinea Bissau this month, ECOWAS leaders said they regretted that regional mediators had received minimal cooperation from the soldiers that took over in Mali, and Burkina Faso in ongoing efforts to restore constitutional order.

Additional reporting by Moussa Aksar and Boureima Balima in Niamey and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Bate Felix, Emelia Sithole and Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles .. https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/trust-principles.html .

Nellie Peyton
Thomson Reuters
Based in Johannesburg, Nellie reports on general, economic and political news across sub-Saharan Africa. She previously spent six years in Dakar covering West and Central Africa. A U.S. national, she studied journalism and international affairs at Sciences Po, Paris. She was the recipient of Amnesty International's 2021 award for best new journalist for investigating sex abuse by aid workers in DR Congo.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/how-military-coup-niger-threatens-stability-west-africa-2023-07-27/