Burkina Faso

The Alliance of Sahel States is focused more on stoking anti-French sentiment than fighting violent extremism.

As coups spread across the region, insecurity is growing—and international military involvement could make it worse.

The weapons may bolster the very rebel groups West African governments are trying to defeat.

By joining hands with militias that target Fulani civilians, state forces risk sparking a wider conflict.

In the absence of a peace process, community members have engaged directly with rebels. Here’s one negotiator’s story.

The country’s second coup of the year could bring yet another African government into Moscow’s orbit.

The EU’s obsession with security in the Sahel is a reflection of its own anxieties—and a betrayal of its values.

Since 2009, the United States has supported the country’s military with funding, weapons, and training.

Regional organizations like the African Union and ECOWAS suspended the country’s ruling junta. But do they have double standards when it comes to democracy?

West Africa is rocked by yet another coup as the military seizes power in Ouagadougou and holds onto control in Bamako.

Burkina Faso’s government resigns amid protests and the military’s failure to counter Islamists.

But banishing the neocolonial approach is easier said than done.

U.S. diplomacy is back in West Africa—but the United States is also back to its old counterterrorism playbook.

France’s unilateralism and the United States’ wavering are destabilizing the Sahel—and creating an opening for Russia and China.

American, French, and West African leaders must pressure the army to stand down and form an interim government, before a power vacuum and violent extremism threaten the entire region.

The country is home to one of the largest deployments of U.S. military personnel in Africa and is a linchpin of regional stability—but the coming year could throw all that into turmoil.