The shift was underscored on Monday when Mali’s foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop, hosted Nick Checker, head of the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, in Bamako.
The visit, the most senior US engagement with Mali’s junta in months, was framed by Washington as an effort to chart a “new course” in bilateral relations while reaffirming respect for Mali’s sovereignty.
Ahead of the meeting, the Bureau of African Affairs signalled that Washington was also open to consultations with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, highlighting shared security and economic interests across the region.
The outreach marks a notable change in tone after years of strained ties following the overthrow of elected governments in all three countries between 2020 and 2023.
Those coups prompted the Biden administration to suspend or restrict military cooperation, particularly in Niger, long regarded as a key US security partner in West Africa.
However, under President Donald Trump’s current administration, Washington appears willing to de-emphasise democratic governance in favour of strategic pragmatism.
In October, 2025, Massad Boulos, the US president’s senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, told Le Monde that democracy was “appreciated” but no longer a condition for engagement.
That position has drawn criticism from human rights advocates, including Reed Brody, one of the lawyers representing Niger’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, who remains detained in the presidential palace more than 900 days after his removal.
“It is clear that the Americans are not concerned about democracy in the Sahel right now,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation office in Mali.
According to Laessing, Washington has adopted a pragmatic stance to address past policy missteps that created space for rival powers.
Sahel state’s strained relations with the EU, ECOWAS, and the Russian alliance
Those missteps coincided with a sharp deterioration in relations between the Sahel states and France, their former colonial ruler, as well as with the European Union more broadly. Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso expelled French troops, reduced cooperation with EU partners, and withdrew from the ECOWAS regional bloc to form a new alliance, the Alliance of Sahel States.
The political vacuum has been filled by Russia, which has expanded its presence through security partnerships and the deployment of troops from its Africa Corps. Moscow now presents itself as a reliable security ally for governments battling jihadist insurgencies that have destabilised the region for more than a decade.
In Niger, an attack last week on the airport in the capital Niamey, claimed by Islamic State West Africa Province, was repelled with what Russia described as joint action by Nigerien forces and Russian personnel.
In Mali, the Al Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims recently killed at least 15 drivers in an attack on a fuel convoy bound for Bamako, underlining the continued resilience of militant groups despite military rule.
US officials privately acknowledge the growing threat as a diplomat at the US embassy in Bamako told AFP that Washington sees jihadists “settling in the Sahel,” while a Malian diplomat said the American envoy had come to explore the conditions under which the US could re-engage in counterterrorism efforts across the Alliance of Sahel States.
What’s in it for US?
The three countries are also strategically significant for their natural resources, including gold and lithium in Mali, uranium in Niger, and gold in Burkina Faso.
Analysts caution, however, that any deeper US involvement is unlikely to translate into transactional deals tied directly to mineral access.
“US mining companies have largely stayed away because of corruption and insecurity,” Laessing noted, arguing that security cooperation would not be exchanged for resources in any straightforward manner.
Meanwhile, internal political consolidation continues as Burkina Faso’s military government last week dissolved all political parties, formalising restrictions that had been in place since the 2022 coup.
Analysts say the move mirrors trends in Mali and Niger, where dissent is tightly controlled under the banner of national security.
For Europe, the recalibration presents fresh challenges. While France has withdrawn militarily from Mali, EU development programmes remain active, and countries such as Germany continue to maintain a presence. Yet experts warn that without a unified strategy, Europe’s influence will continue to wane.
“Major crises are taking place without the EU,” Laessing said, as global powers reposition themselves in a region where the balance of influence remains fluid and uncertain.
Source: Business Africa Insider
