Niger’s military junta expels America—leaving room for America’s geopolitical enemies

Nobody in America thinks about Niger in Africa, but Niger matters in the war against radical Islam and in the world’s balance of power. Now, though, we must think about Niger because it appears that Biden’s foreign policy incompetence, combined with America’s general weakness, has led to the new military junta kicking America out of a forward base that allowed it to attack radical Islam in the region and a country that’s one of the world’s biggest uranium suppliers.

Because Niger isn’t on anyone’s radar, here’s a bit of background:

Niger, a former French colony, is a landlocked nation in northwestern Africa. It’s home to multiple ethnic groups, but they’re bound together by one thing: Islam, which accounts for over 99% of the population. Despite being one of the world’s poorest countries, it’s also home to some of the world’s largest uranium deposits, making it a very important country.

It’s not just uranium that makes Niger an important country. For a long time, Niger has cooperated with the American military, allowing it to have outposts there. These outposts enabled the U.S. to keep an eye on and attack violent Islamist groups in North Africa. They also served as a counterbalance to Russia, which is desperate to gain influence there (as, seemingly, is China).

Image: YouTube screen grab.

As with almost all African countries, Niger has had an endless modern history of tyranny and poverty. The latest tyranny cycle occurred last July when a military junta overthrew a democratically elected president (and I’m sure that election was as honest as 2020’s in America). The current leader is Abdourahamane Tchiani (aka Omar Tchiani), who supported the losing president in that election.

According to an analysis shortly after the coup, it’s probable that the State Department’s inattention and the Biden administration’s ineptitude contributed to the coup’s success. Given the many coups sweeping the region, it wasn’t hard to guess that more were in the works. An administration with its eye on the ball wouldn’t have been as surprised as Biden and his team were. The same essay has a long list of flabby Africa policies in the White House that kept it from knowing what was happening and responding appropriately.

When Tchiani first took over, the Biden administration did not want to acknowledge that a “coup” had even happened because that would mean that it could no longer provide the military and economic aid that helped keep Niger tied to America. Biden even issued an ineffectual call for Tchiani to release Niger’s deposed president.

By October, Biden was forced to acknowledge reality: What happened in Niger was a coup (i.e., the violent overthrow of a democratically elected government). At that moment, U.S. money and military assistance dried up, which arguably gave the Biden administration leverage in working with a desperately poor—and now completely chaotic—nation.

However, the U.S., both in the White House and in Congress, still tried to maintain that useful military presence in Niger, which had (as of October) around 1,000 American military personnel. (Sen. Rand Paul wanted to withdraw the troops because of his concern that they were in danger.) As of January, showing some wisdom, the Biden administration was still trying to maintain an anti-terrorist presence in Niger.

However, the Biden administration’s efforts have not only been unavailing but, as the news today shows, they’ve been a total failure, because Niger just gave America the boot:

Niger’s junta has ended a military agreement that allowed US personnel to be deployed in the country.

Saturday’s announcement came in the week that a delegation from Washington had been in Niamey for talks with the country’s military leadership.

The US used its base in Niger to monitor regional jihadist activity.

This latest announcement by the junta, in power since last July, comes as it moves closer to Russia and after French troops were kicked out in December.

The actual statement itself makes plain that the American delegation deeply offended the sensibilities of the newly (self) installed government:

As you can see when you watch the video and work your way through the slightly loopy translation, Tchiani’s government perceived the U.S. delegation as high-handed and deeply disrespectful (“the government of Niger strongly denounces the condescending attitude accompanied by the threat of reprisals…”) The whole statement drips with a strong sense of ill-usage and personal insult. This could, of course, all be ex post facto rationalization but it appears, too, that the bumbling Biden administration utterly failed to be diplomatic in its diplomacy.

Perhaps it was inevitable that a military coup in an Islamic country would lead to America’s ouster, but the long history of Niger’s cooperation with America suggests otherwise. Up until about 10 minutes ago, it appeared that Niger appreciated America’s presence, which helped keep disruptive radical Islamists outside of its borders. With America out (following on France’s heels), the way is cleared for Russia, China, and Iran to get Niger’s uranium, a real game changer in the world’s power structure.

When America has a weak president, the world goes to hell in a handbasket. That’s not just bad for those parts of the world that benefitted from the world’s policeman keeping order. This imminent uranium debacle shows that it’s very bad for us, too. Add this to the list of things (e.g., the economy and immigration) that Trump should include when he asks voters, as Ronald Reagan once did, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”