DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 8 | RUSSIASAHEL Russia backs up military plans for the juntas 7th April 2025 Moscow is preparing to send more forces into Africa if its war with Ukraine starts to subside Organising a summit in Moscow on 3-4 April for the foreign ministers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – respectively Abdoulaye Diop, Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré and Bakare... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 6 | SAHELECOWAS Leaders launch regional defence force despite juntas’ absence 17th March 2025 Tough negotiations between civilian and military regimes lie ahead to mend fences and resume security cooperation The political and security schisms in the Sahel have intensified as relations between the three military ruled states – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – and the regional... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 17 | MALISAHEL Kyiv counts diplomatic costs of ambush boasts 14th August 2024 Bamako has cut ties with Ukraine, accusing it of complicity in an attack that killed Malian soldiers and 50 Russian Wagner operatives The Cold War politics in the Sahel has been given fresh heat after Mali announced it was severing ties with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of involvement in a deadly... READ FOR FREE
Vol 65 No 3 | SAHEL Juntas in shock split from Ecowas 1st February 2024 Moscow is intent on filling the vacuum as three Sahelian military regimes worry Paris and Washington by cutting regional ties Announcing their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) 'without delay', the juntas ruling Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have sent a shockwave through the... READ FOR FREE
Vol 64 No 19 | EUROPEAN UNIONSAHEL Caught cold by the coups 19th September 2023 Von der Leyen calls for a bolder strategy amid the wave of putsches and deepening crisis in the Sahel European Union officials are scrambling to revise their approach to the Sahel and West Africa after being blindsided by the military coups d'état in Niger and Gabon.
Vol 64 No 9 | SAHEL A battle for regional control 27th April 2023 Clashes between jihadist groups are increasing as they seek to strengthen their territorial control Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin' (JNIM), the Sahel's largest jihadist umbrella alliance, is under pressure from an aggressive fightback by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), determined...
Vol 64 No 3 | RUSSIASAHEL Resurrecting the 'Russosphere' 2nd February 2023 The spike in pro-Russian sentiment in the Sahel has been linked to an obscure Belgian activist, Luc Michel. Describing himself as a 'Stalinist', Michel, 65, founded a Belgian...
DISPATCHES Vol 64 No 2 | BURKINA FASOEUROPEAN UNIONSAHEL More European diplomatic dominoes fall as French ambassador is expelled from Ouagadogou 10th January 2023 The military juntas in the Sahel are sidelining Europe's efforts on security in favour of Moscow's forces When Burkina Faso's junta expelled France's ambassador, Luc Hallade, last week it reinforced the sense of failure of Europe's diplomatic and security policy in the region. READ FOR FREE
Vol 63 No 22 | MALIFRANCESAHEL Bamako's wolf warrior diplomacy backfires 28th October 2022 Foreign Minister Diop's attacks on France and peacekeepers meets sceptical silence at UN Security Council After accusing France of supporting Islamist militia groups at a UN Security Council meeting on 18 October, Bamako's foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop dialled down the rhetoric five days...
Vol 63 No 18 | SAHEL Anti-jihad forces try to do without Mali 8th September 2022 Mali has opted out, so other Sahelian states are trying to cooperate militarily to fill a vacuum in which the jihadists are thriving New alliances are being reinforced by states on the front line against jihad to make up for Mali's decision to go it alone and expel France and its...