Written by Michael Thervil
Courtesy of Africa News
When it comes to talking about waning world power, it seems that America has been the poster child for this geopolitical trend in the last decade. In a sweeping collective move by countries in the African Sahara, the United States has been essentially kicked out of the region. The biggest reason is because of America failing to put a stop to various terrorist groups that operate in the region. In addition, the political leaders and people of the region are tired of being treated like children who need to be policed. Backing our position here at VEDA Magazine is Col. Amadou Abdramane who is the spokesperson for Niger's military, he stated: “Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships truly capable of helping them fight against terrorism. The government of Niger forcefully denounces the condescending attitude accompanied by the threat of retaliation from the head of the American delegation.”
Even more than that, the political leaders and the people of the region are tired of America meddling in their internal affairs and superimposing themselves on not only on them but the entire collective of countries in the Sahara. With the inevitable rise of the BRICS+ nations with Russia taking the lead, there is no doubt in the minds of those that follow the trajectory of the geopolitical landscape that the shift in world power is moving from a unipolar to a multipolar one. African countries like Niger and Burkina Faso are now ripe with the ability to take back control of their countries from foreign powers and have become ever-increasingly keen on securing their own self-interest in the geopolitical arena.
In The case of the Sahara region of Africa, the central country that is leading the charge of kicking America out of the region is Niger. Since July of 2024 they’ve gathered the courage to end their military cooperation deal with America and instead felt it was in their best interest to form a strategic partnership with Russia with Iran, and China too soon to follow. The reason for this shift towards Russia and the east in general regarding the formation of a joint-military alliance according to Col. Amadou Abdramane who is the spokesperson for Niger's military is because: “The American presence in the territory of the Republic of Niger is illegal, [and American military presence] violates all the constitutional and democratic rules, which would require the sovereign people — notably through its elected officials — to be consulted on the installation of a foreign army on its territory.”
Keep in mind the Niger military has successfully arrested President of the country, Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023, and he has been in the custody of the Junta ever since. Also worthy of mention, both the French military and French mining businesses were also kicked out of the country as well roughly around the same time. The primary reason why France was kicked out of Niger by the Junta was because of their exploitation of Niger's number one natural resource - uranium. We detailed this breaking point in Niger history in an article entitled: “Niger A Multiverse of Proxy Wars”. The outcry from political leaders in Washington is that they’ve spent $750 million dollars in Niger since 2010 and they want a return on investment. However, there are two things that the political leaders in Washington are failing to mention.
The first thing is that the former American backed President, Mohamed Bazoum was financially brought off and paid for by the France and the United States, which set the precedent for other American political figures and the American Military Industrial Complex to financially benefit from Niger. It seems that the people of Niger are tired of the exploitation from western powers (France and America). The truth of the matter is the United States is in the region is not necessary because of terrorism - even though that is a good pretext and a its a pretext that America has failed to put a stop to. Backing our position is Nigerien journalist Abdoulaye Sissoko stating that “There is no public evidence that American bases in Niger have proven useful.”
The real reason why America sought to intervene in the region against who they define as terrorist lies in the fact that America what's to keep an eye on and control on where Niger's uranium is going. Keep in mind that the terrorist in the region poses no threat to America. Outside of these stark revelations; it seems as if Niger just might be striking a deal with the Iranians soon – if they haven't done so already. Like it or not, Niger’s vast natural resources of uranium, which is used to form Yellowcake, is a very attractive invitation for Iran to either do business with and or become a strategic partner with Niger. When it comes to what's in it for Russia, Niger is a great opportunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to further extend Russia’s reach and influence on the geopolitical stage.
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