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France ready to back sanctions over ‘dangerous’ Niger coup, says Macron

The French president’s comments came as western powers scrambled to preserve a key ally in a region that has been destabilised by jihadist insurgencies, coups, and interventions by the Wagner mercenary group as Russian flags appeared at prominent sites around Niger’s capital, Niamey.

Macron, who was visiting Papua New Guinea, called for the release of the detained president, Mohamed Bazoum, and said: “This coup is completely illegitimate and profoundly dangerous, for Nigeriens, for Niger and for the whole region.”

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar
  • The Sahel region is suffering from the "resource curse", all the big mineral companies are in there right now.
  • So are their enforcers.
  • The social chaos this causes has made affected/displaced people prone to resource competition and vulnerable to Islamic radicalization, which leads to worse
    conflict.
  • This unrest provides a useful pretext for more militarization to further enforce the interests of mineral exploitation.
  • We also get the proxy situation with Wagner group vs French and US.
HowRu68 OP ,

That’s another way to put it.

But Sahels history hasn’t been peaceful for a long time. Extreme droughts, (land) disputes, violance, and human rights violations were pre- existing to what’s happening now.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Yes, this is true.

Before this, the West was involved in violence in the Sahel during "Operation Serval" in the 2010s.

Before that, it was the "Global War On Terror" in the 2000s.

Before even this, there were things like "Operation Epervier" in the 1980s, and before that the "stabilisation forces" after Independence in the 1960s and 1970s.

And of course before those there were the Colonial forces during colonial occupation.

And before that, the wars of European conquest in the 19th century...

HowRu68 OP ,

the West was involved in violence in the Sahel of course before those there were the Colonial forces

Ah yes, ofcourse, the colonialism and “because of The West” argument. I was hoping for a more balanced conversation, my bad.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

What argument??? I'm agreeing with you.

Sahels history hasn’t been peaceful for a long time.

I agree. I mean since you seem upset by mentions of colonialism we can go back even further, to the Sahelian Kingdoms if you like.

But I think it would be a stretch to suggest that there is much continuity between those conflicts and what is happening now, except in the matter of the farmers/nomads conflicts.

These have existed for centuries, but are made worse by displacement and increased resource competition.

I'm not sure why you brought up the region's past if you didn't want to talk about it.

HowRu68 OP ,

Allright, I guess that we agree that

Sahels history hasn’t been peaceful for a long time.

The usage of “this” and "that ", could have lead to some misinterprations. I was indeed refering to the older (and still relevant) history in the region, like the one you mentioned in your latest comment, eg. droughts, farmers & nomads.

Concerning colonialism, most countries have been colonies or subject to one or another empire. It is only in more recent times, that we have created & accepted the idea of independent states on an international level. Unfortunately, some nations or movements, disregard this notion and create chaos and undermine (fragile) stability.

HowRu68 OP , (edited )

Am not sure about the best way to cover this extreme chaos that’s going on, so I’ll just summarise some points here ( most articles cover only one bit of the complete picture):

-Macron and the EU have a diplomatic interest ( see main article),

-Russia has a completely different take and stake in Niger, eg. Wagner mercenaries, mineral deposits in Niger etc.

-Some (Niger& Mali,Nigerian) Islamistic extremist are gaining ground;

-The African Union are worried about the stability surrounding the Sahel region, foodprices and distribution networks.

-Finally the USA has some vested interest as per Link Reuters

-WHY IS NIGER IMPORTANT TO THE UNITED STATES? The country[ i.e… Niger], located in the semi-arid Sahel region, plays an outsized role in the United States’ Africa strategy. Most importantly, it is a key partner for Washington’s fight against Islamist insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. U.S. military personnel have been training local forces to fight militant groups.

This is only the tip of the iceberg.( Ed.)

sadreality ,

Niger is the key suppliers of Uranium to France, also to lesser extent for US. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orano_Cycle

Canadians companies also have controlling stake in Niger Gold mine.

Niger is also a de-facto colony of France via the CFA Franc regime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc

France uses CFA franc scheme to extract value in neo colonial fashion from West and Central African states, mainly by requiring central banks deposits to be held in France and no interest on them paid to African states.

So let's no pretend like French interest is "diplomacy" OR that US is "fighting Islamism" that is really a white washed take IMHO

HowRu68 OP ,

So let’s no pretend like French interest is “diplomacy” OR that US is “fighting Islamism” that is really a white washed take IMHO

Interesting, iMHO, how you reduce such a complex reality into de facto only two culprits, and negate all other issues.

Fyi, the very definition of “diplomacy” entails quite alot and is internationally accredited. The same can’t be said of the coup and of terrorist activities and groups

sadreality ,

I did not negate anything, I supplemented your original comment with details that you glossed over presumably because of bad optics for France/EU/West/US team.

While don't harbor any affinity for Russian backed proxies or Russia for that matter, however, in great power play context there is no good guys and surely France aint it, either.

livus ,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

This, "diplomatic interest" gave me a chuckle. That's a... diplomatic way of putting it!

HowRu68 OP , (edited )

It is, isn’t,)

Let’s say it’s become more important for several economic, geopolitical & migratory reasons.

I believe that is true for all involved parties. Though generally the EU tries to respect human rights and environment.

Some min. 150 billion euro is being invested, according to the joint vision .

LarkinDePark ,

-Macron and the EU have a diplomatic interest ( see main article),

-Russia has a completely different take and stake in Niger, eg. Wagner mercenaries, mineral deposits in Niger etc.

Who do you think you’re fooling with this shit? How stupid do you think people are here?

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