![France's strategy in the Sahel region of West Africa involves Mali and Niger.](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/france-west-africa-sahel-conflict-mali-niger-jihadist-operation-barkhane-06292023-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
Two factors will have significant implications for the future of France’s military intervention in the Sahel and the region’s fight against violent Islamist extremists: Niger’s emerging role as the linchpin of France’s reconfigured strategy and the diplomatic tensions that have emerged in recent years between Niger and Mali.