Despite the fact that Washington has sought to maintain its military presence in Niger, formerly one of the main US allies in the Sahel region, and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in developing its military infrastructure and training local armed forces, it nevertheless failed to achieve its goals and was forced to accept the harsh conditions dictated by the national authorities.

On May 19, 2024, military representatives of Niger and the US agreed that the withdrawal of US troops from Niger would be completed by September 15 this year at the latest. In fact this latest US retreat, which follows the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, actually began much earlier. The first group of US military personnel on board a C-17 Globemaster III left Niamey airport on June 7 this year. This inglorious event was presented by the United States Department of State, in a joint statement by both parties, as exemplifying “the productive cooperation between the US and Nigerien armed forces”.

As of June 18 this year, the United States has already withdrawn about 30 per cent of its troops and about 700 more are awaiting evacuation.

Attempts by the State Department and the Pentagon to continue their relations with the new government on the same footing as before have not been welcomed by the latter. According to the British journal Flight Global, not only did these overtures fail to bring the desired results, they actually also led to the appearance of Russian servicemen personnel at the former US military airbase near the Nigerien capital, which was seen as a blow to American pride. The very fact that the Nigerien authorities allocated part of this base, which was built using American taxpayers’ money, for the deployment of Russian units, caused particular indignation among certain members of the US Congress, the journal notes.

Washington’s latest geopolitical setback

Following the arrival in Niger in mid-April this year of Russian military instructors who, without mixing with the Americans, settled in a separate hangar at Air Base 101 near the international........

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