The Coup in Niger and U.S. Policy in the Sahel

On July 26th, a military coup led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani deposed elected Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum. This has triggered condemnation in Washington and a threat from the West African regional organization Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene militarily and restore Bazoum to power.

What is to be made of the threat of military intervention by the ECOWAS? Will this coup embolden the standing of Russia and its Wagner Group in the region? What does sound U.S. policy in Niger and the Sahel more broadly look like?

Join our discussion with Stephanie Savell, co-director of Brown University’s Costs of War project, Adekeye Adebajo, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria, and Hannah Rae Armstrong, a writer and policy advisor on peace and security in North Africa and the Sahel. Alex Thurston, a Quincy Institute non-resident fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati, will moderate.

Download the full webinar transcript here: