The Sahel is at acute risk of becoming a global flashpoint, with extremist groups gaining ground across the region, and external powers waging proxy conflicts and reshaping critical-mineral supply chains to their liking. To avoid this disastrous outcome, revitalized regional cooperation is essential.
LONDON – Africa’s Sahel region is enduring a period of rapid change – and deepening instability. Military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – now known as the Central Sahel – have rejected traditional partnerships with the West in favor of new patrons: China and Russia. Add to that the fragmentation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the region’s geopolitical map is being redrawn, with consequences that stretch far beyond West Africa.
LONDON – Africa’s Sahel region is enduring a period of rapid change – and deepening instability. Military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – now known as the Central Sahel – have rejected traditional partnerships with the West in favor of new patrons: China and Russia. Add to that the fragmentation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the region’s geopolitical map is being redrawn, with consequences that stretch far beyond West Africa.