{"id":5682,"date":"2023-09-09T16:58:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-09T16:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=5682"},"modified":"2023-09-09T16:58:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-09T16:58:42","slug":"france-reportedly-in-talks-with-niger-for-possible-withdrawal-of-its-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2023\/09\/09\/france-reportedly-in-talks-with-niger-for-possible-withdrawal-of-its-troops\/","title":{"rendered":"France reportedly in talks with Niger for possible withdrawal of its troops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/9\/5\/france-reportedly-in-talks-with-niger-for-possible-withdrawal-of-its-troops<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2023, a coup was held in Niger that overthrew their former President Mohamed Bazoum, an ally of the French, in an attempt to force French troops to leave Niger. This is less than four years after French forces were forced to withdraw from surrounding countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, leaving Niger as a \u201ccrucial hub\u201d for France in western Africa. The feud began as the coup leadership under Prime Minister Zeine called for French removal after France\u2019s long history of Nigerien colonial rule, ultimately seeking some form of independence from Western influence. Inevitably, France does not recognize the new authority in Niger. There are currently talks of French withdrawal from Niger’s capital Niamey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event is merely the aftermath of 20th century colonialism. While French occupation might not have been considered \u201ccolonization\u201d for some, it could be seen as Africa\u2019s continual reliance on European aid and the presence of neocolonial ascendency, or a rise in the dependence of former colonies on their colonizers. This could be beneficial for developing countries aiming to rebuild, but without French aid, it\u2019s difficult to tell whether the Nigeriens would\u2019ve been better off with their help or by entering into a period of self-growth\u2026 whatever that might look like in terms of their economy, governance, or infrastructure. It\u2019s no wonder that French homes might also see an impact of the coup. Uranium core is harvested within Nigerien mines, helping power French homes with nuclear energy. France’s response in this situation could also change the global view of France; by letting go of their possession of Niger, they risk a valuable resource for their citizens. This release of power would majorly weaken French influence in Africa along with their display of power on the global stage. French President Emmanuel Macron will probably face backlash either way, as staying in Niger might make him appear to have neocolonialist tendencies, but leaving will certainly make him look weaker overall. Events like these are especially important to understand; although the scramble for Africa happened more than a century ago, its ramifications are still seen today.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In class, we\u2019ve spoken about various world powers: the big players that dictate foreign policy or the groups that vie for a voice. With the coup causing instability in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stood up to the military dictatorship and threatened armed forces against them. Being a regional bloc, the ECOWAS acts as a sort of political and military IGO in West Africa, like NATO is to the North Atlantic. They both have generous resources and power in their appropriate regions and also aid allies during conflict. Their hand in West African affairs could be deemed consequential to the newly risen leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/9\/5\/france-reportedly-in-talks-with-niger-for-possible-withdrawal-of-its-troops In July 2023, a coup was held in Niger that overthrew their former President Mohamed Bazoum, an ally of the French, in an attempt to force French troops to leave Niger. This is less than four years after French forces were forced to withdraw from surrounding countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, leaving Niger as a \u201ccrucial hub\u201d for… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5682"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5693,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682\/revisions\/5693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}