Since the launch of the “great power competition” framework, U.S. policymakers seem to have moved on entirely from the war on terror, focusing instead on countering China and Russia. But as the U.S. military’s significant presence in Niger demonstrates, it would be a mistake to consider the war on terror as solely in the past.
Ten years after France launched its military intervention in Mali to oust jihadist militants, its influence in West Africa’s Sahel region is waning. Against this backdrop, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined a new “framework for security cooperation” last month as part of a new approach to relations with African countries.
