In December 2023, three countries in West Africa, formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger coming together to proclaim their commitment to building an independent existence from French and United States influence.

All three states at present are led by military governments which came to power through coup d’etats.

The African continent has witnessed a resurgence in military seizures of power. In the latest round beginning in 2020 in Mali, lower-ranking military officers with close ties to the French Foreign Legions and the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) took control of the government in the capital of Bamako.

Nonetheless, despite their work with the imperialist powers in previous years, since 2023, there has been a sharp turn against France and the U.S. with the governments of the AES forming closer ties with the Russian Federation. In Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, French troops have withdrawn from these states.

In Niger, a large-scale producer of uranium, the French and U.S. military forces have been withdrawn at the aegis of the government. AFRICOM had a major drone station in the country which was disabled last year. (See this)

Previous governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger had relied on France and the U.S. purportedly for their internal security in light of the rise of rebel insurgencies inside their countries. These rebel groupings increased in numbers, waging violent attacks largely upon civilians and soldiers of the national armies in the aftermath of the Pentagon-CIA-NATO counter-revolution in the North African state of Libya during 2011.

Jihadist rebel activity has continued in the Sahel region in West Africa even extending beyond the AES states. In Chad, which has also asked for the withdrawal of French troops, armed opposition groupings are fighting the government.

The French and U.S. military forces claimed they were deployed to the Sahel region to assist in the building of the defense and national security apparatuses of the states which are facing attacks by rebel groupings. However, the presence of military units from the imperialist states has not halted the instability in these areas.

In fact, the security situation in the AES region has worsened. Malian authorities last year discovered that the U.S.-backed regime in Ukraine had been funding and training rebel groupings in this West African state. This revelation resulted in the severing of diplomatic relations between Kyiv and the AES states.

Russian Foreign Ministry Commits to Assisting with AES Security

With this situation prevailing, it is not surprising that the AES states and others have turned to Moscow for assistance in building up their military and intelligence capabilities. This shift in military and intelligence cooperation between the Russian Federation and various African states, has alarmed the U.S. government.

During early April, officials from the AES visited Moscow for talks on various issues of common interests. These African leaders held a joint press conference with Russian Federation Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

One report published by the Tanzania Daily News on the meeting held in Moscow emphasized:

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to bolstering the defense capabilities of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) following talks in Moscow on Thursday (April 3). Speaking after a meeting with his counterparts from Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, Lavrov stated that Russia is prepared ‘to actively assist in building the capacity of the joint forces of the Sahel states, enhancing their combat readiness, as well as that of the national armed forces of each of the three countries, and in training military personnel and law enforcement officers.’ Moscow’s readiness to aid in the creation of a unified armed force for the three Sahel nations would be in addition to existing bilateral efforts to enhance defense cooperation, the diplomat noted.”

There have been reports since January of this year that the AES alliance is working on establishing a joint military force of at least 5,000 soldiers. This effort would be clearly designed to reverse the current instability caused by imperialism and its surrogates in the region.

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AES military officers meeting in Burkina Faso, April 16, 2025 (Source: Abayomi Azikiwe)

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In the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, on April 15-16, the military officials of the AES countries held a summit meeting to discuss deepening their cooperation. This gathering was the third of such meetings following the others held in Bamako (Mali) and Niamey (Niger) in 2024, representing the continuing solidarity among Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

The same above-mentioned Tanzania Daily News report on the visit to Moscow by the AES foreign ministry officials in April, says of the Russian role in the building of a sovereign defense force in the region:

“Lavrov also said Russian assistance would involve support for the alliance’s broader strategic priorities, including economic development and diplomatic processes. Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop thanked Russia for ‘always supporting us in the difficult moments of the story.’ We know that friends can be found in distress. Many thanks for your solidarity,’ Diop said. He also announced that the country’s interim president, General Assimi Goita, will visit Moscow in June. Niger’s foreign minister, Bakari Yaou Sangare, emphasized that the AES looks to Russia for assistance in securing arms supplies, noting that the alliance faces an increasingly difficult global environment. ‘The people of the Sahel are counting on Russia. They expect it to stand by us and support us in our fight against terrorism and in our struggle for independence,’ Sangare stated.”

These developments involving the reconfiguration of international relations is not confined to specific regional blocs on the African continent. In a broader framework, many African Union (AU) member-states took the lead in initial attempts to end the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The failed Black Sea grain deal grew out of talks between an AU delegation to Kyiv and Moscow during the early phase of the Russian Special Military Operation. The administration of President Donald Trump claimed before taking office that it would end the war within 24 hours. Of course, in many ways the war is intensifying with an anticipated offensive by the Russian forces being imminent.

The geopolitical situation in Europe and Asia is based upon the strategic interests of various states and regional alliances. There are fundamental differences related to the foreign policy imperatives of the U.S., Russia and the People’s Republic of China. In West Asia, the Palestinian Question is central to any stabilization of the security situation in the region.

Irrespective of the false assertions by the White House that global relations are built on personalities, the people of the U.S. must come to grips with the class and national divisions which prevail in the world’s leading economy. The majority of the population living in the U.S. have more of a common interest with the oppressed and working people in the Global South than with their own ruling class.

Imperialism Remains the Major Threat to World Security

Under the current MAGA White House and Congress world tensions have increased and not subsided. The Trump administration has reportedly been involved in discussions about building Pentagon bases at the Gulf of Aden Port of Berbera in the northeastern Somalian breakaway region of Somaliland.

During 1962, an early Somalian government signed an agreement with the former Soviet Union to utilize Berbera where they constructed a naval base. In later years after successive governments shifted alliances, the U.S. has had a presence.

The central government in Mogadishu responded to this purported scheme with its own proposal to the U.S. There are also reports of a willingness of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to allow a Pentagon presence in the eastern resource-rich areas of the country in exchange for “security guarantees” and U.S. access to strategic minerals.

Pentagon bombing operations are still being carried out in Somalia against the ostensibly al-Qaida and Isis-linked groupings. Yet there is no accountability in regard to who is actually being impacted by these air strikes and other operations where people are losing their lives and property.

Moreover, the imposition of an unprecedented tariffs regime by the Trump White House has upended financial markets around the world while enhancing an already grave sense of uncertainty among working class people in the U.S. The confusion engendered by the tariffs is only compounding the economic crisis prompted by the purging of federal workers and threats against the education sector from the K-12 levels to colleges and universities.

Consequently, the imperialist character of U.S. foreign policy has by no means been liquidated by the Trump administration. Therefore, the AES countries are pointing in an alternative direction which emphasizes genuine political, economic and military independence.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: AES states with Russian Foreign Minister, April 4, 2025 / All images in this article are from the author

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