🇺🇸 🌍 🇷🇺 Three West African juntas have turned to Russia. Now the US wants to engage them

The state department announced that Nick Checker, head of its Bureau of African Affairs, would visit Mali's capital Bamako to convey the United States' "respect for Mali's sovereignty" and chart a "new course" in relations, moving "past policy missteps".

The US, like Europe, remains seriously concerned about the long-term security threat posed by the jihadist groups now operating across the Sahel - the semi-arid stretch of land south of the Sahara Desert. According to some definitions, the region now accounts for half of all the world's terrorism deaths.

Although almost all the casualties are local, there is concern in the US that the governments' loss of control of much of their territory could allow the emergence of safe havens for jihadist groups to develop further and expand.

Diplomats and analysts routinely now describe the region as the "epicentre of global terrorism", which could present a long-term international threat.

A fresh reminder of the scale of threat that it poses came only last week with an attack on the airport in Niamey, Niger's capital.

The jihadist activity is also a threat to the Sahel's export of valuable or strategically important minerals: the region is a major producer of gold and Mali also produces lithium – a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries and also used in some medication – while Niger has significant uranium reserves.

The Trump administration also appears concerned not to leave Russia to play the role of sole external defence partner of the three countries.

It seems that Washington does not want to leave the field open for exclusively Russian influence and does now want to balance that with its own security partnership.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckglwnrx437o

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