Coups in the Sahel, 2020-2023
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in a security and political reset
A chronology of the military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, with the causes, regional spillovers, and responses from external actors.
Mali: From peacekeeping to junta rule
In Mali, frustration with insecurity and weak governance helped drive multiple coups beginning in 2020. The junta broke with France, turned toward Russia, and made life harder for international missions that were already struggling to contain the insurgency.
Burkina Faso: Two takeovers in a row
Burkina Faso saw two successive coups in 2022 and 2023. The officers involved argued that the civilian leadership had failed against jihadist violence. Yet the violence kept spreading, showing that replacing one leadership group with another did not solve the structural problem.
Niger: A rupture with Western partners
The 2023 coup in Niger ended one of the West's most important security partnerships in the Sahel. Military agreements were canceled, EU and US troops left, and Russia and other regional players moved quickly to exploit the vacuum.
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More background reading from the wiki
The Sahel Security Crisis
The Sahel has become a core theater of terrorism, military rule, and humanitarian stress, with violence spilling toward the coast.
France's Withdrawal from the Sahel
After decades of military presence, France left the Sahel, reshaping regional security and French foreign policy.