Biden’s Strategy in the Sahel Looks a Lot Like Trump’sOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso—As West African leaders and France were discussing their progress on countering armed Islamists’ advance across the Sahel during February’s G5 Sahel summit in N’Djamena, Chad, a fresh face beamed into the meeting. So has the counterterrorism lens through which the United States and its allies see the conflict. And it’s not just the advance of armed groups from over Mali’s border that has led to this decline. In March 2020, the Trump administration named J. Peter Pham, an Africa expert, as special envoy for the Sahel region. Washington remains alarmed by the rise of terrorism in West Africa and is continuing counterterrorism efforts inherited from the previous administration.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 01, 2021 22:30 UTC