Will Disaster Strike if the U.S. Leaves Niger?

If you have been scanning the headlines lately, you might think that the entire U.S. counterterrorism apparatus in Africa is at risk of collapse after the Nigerien military in late July arrested its own president, suspended the country’s constitution, and took power for itself.

NPR accurately summed up the media narrative behind the coup (which the Biden administration still refuses to officially call a coup) in a report immediately after Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum was detained and effectively held hostage by his own presidential guards: “Niger is vital to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa.” The Associated Press on August 4 ran a story that suggested that the U.S. was close to losing its last counterterrorism partner in the Sahel region of Africa — and, with it, access to a number of U.S. bases in the country. Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, Niger’s ambassador to the U.S., used a short op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to warn that if the coup stands, the U.S. “will soon be forced to withdraw its forces, giving Islamist terrorists free rein to plan violent acts.”

About the Author

Daniel R. DePetris

Daniel R. DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a syndicated foreign affairs columnist at the Chicago Tribune.

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If you have been scanning the headlines lately, you might think that the entire U.S. counterterrorism apparatus in Africa is at risk of collapse after the Nigerien military in late July arrested its own president, suspended the country’s constitution, and took power for itself.

NPR accurately summed up the media narrative behind the coup (which the Biden administration still refuses to officially call a coup) in a report immediately after Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum was detained and effectively held hostage by his own presidential guards: “Niger is vital to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa.” The Associated Press on August 4 ran a story that suggested that the U.S. was close to losing its last counterterrorism partner in the Sahel region of Africa — and, with it, access to a number of U.S. bases in the country. Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, Niger’s ambassador to the U.S., used a short op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to warn that if the coup stands, the U.S. “will soon be forced to withdraw its forces, giving Islamist terrorists free rein to plan violent acts.”