Such a thing never happened in the past one hundred years since the United States stepped out of the Western Hemisphere as an imperial power — an adversary barging into one of its military bases abroad.

A military base is deemed sovereign territory and an unauthorised entry constitutes an affront, especially by Russia, a rival superpower. Yet, Washington and Moscow are playing down the co-habitation of their military personnel in the American air base near Niamey, capital of Niger, known as Airbase 101.

In the cacophony over the proxy war in Ukraine, perhaps, the news got submerged that the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin insisted that there was no “significant issue” in such co-habitation in Niger. Austin explained: “The Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to US forces or access to our equipment. I am always focused on the safety and protection of our troops. But right now, I don’t see a significant issue here in terms of our force protection.”

Such uncharacteristic restraint by the Pentagon chief would probably be because Washington is in no position to evict the Russians now that Nigerien authorities have annulled the Status of Forces agreements with the US.

On the other hand, the Russian military personnel — reportedly drawn from the newly formed Africa Corps comprising erstwhile Wagner Group — arrived in Niger some three weeks ago at the invitation of the Nigerian government.

Equally, Washington must also have factored in that Niger’s military, which had in the past worked closely with the US, while seeking cooperation with Russia, is stopping short of the full-fledged embrace of Moscow by military-run neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso. Arguably, it signals Niger’s so-called “diversification of international partnerships” plan that keeps open prospects of a US comeback.

At any rate, Austin must be aware that this impasse in the US-Niger ties is largely to be attributed to the State Department’s mishandling by........

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