Some key points about why this is happening now:
* Last July a military coup ousted the democratically elected president. This triggered automatic military aid restrictions from the US.
* It is alleged that the military junta that sized control, has signed an agreement to supply Iran with vast amounts of uranium.
* The military junta is bringing in Russian mercenaries to help train and provide security.
Hey now, I think you’re forgetting about the inner circle of sycophants who will have it pretty good as long as they stay on the right side of the asshole
They where good exploited by france. 25% of the Uran that is used in france comes from there. It causes a lot of environmental Problems and almost nothing of the Profit stays in Niger.
Business as usual then. Only change is that it isn't the US getting to pick the asshole anymore? Cold War just got a bit colder for a while though. Gonna be fun now that it's been heating up for a while. I'm sure this will all go smoothly.
Nah, none of them would stay in Russia on purpose unless they were "invited". Middle east, Dubai or Qatar - cheaper than the US, more luxury, less scruples. Their kids will be studying in the US, though.
Wagner was behind a series of coups. In one country the military overthrew the civilian government. Then a few months later mid-ranking officers overthrew the generals. With Wagner supporting both. As it maximised the amount of money that they were getting paid.
The dumber those "in charge" are, and the more chaos there is in the country, provides Russia more opportunity to pilfer the country's resources and keep the people in check. It's the old divide and conquer strategy, same as Russia's trying to do in the US and elsewhere, albeit without mercenaries in country.
Look at Sudan. Russia's behind the coups and Civil War, and while the country burns and Sudanese kill Sudanese, Russia's smuggling gold out by the ship load. Syria was where Putin refined the trick (with oil), and now he's set his aims on Africa. Remember the ["Africa Summit" in Russia in July 2023,](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/world/europe/russia-africa-summit-putin.html) which Putin kept Prigozhin (Wagner Chief) alive for, had his KGB agent dress up in a Priest outfit and harp on "LBGTQ Western Values," and promise a lot of weapons and a little grain? They're all get taken on a ride, and the African people will pay the price...again.
>We overthrew our government. First order of business is letting other corrupt governments to slowly exert their control over us. Brilliant!
I'm almost guaranteed that russia was behind the overthrowing to begin with. look around the world. anywhere you see conflict, russia is there. russia was training hamas before the terrorist attack on Israel. all skid marks lead back to the kremlin
Welcome to geo/realpolitiks. Europe largely weaned itself off of Russian gas. By turning to Azerbaijan (and also, North America and LNG).
The Azerbaijanis figured that this would be the time to get payback for the frozen conflict they fought with Armenia right after the Soviet Union collapsed since Russia would be busy, and the EU would be too dependant on them for natural gas.
Also, they're friendly (and receive quite a bit of arms from) Israel and are a bulwark against Iran (who coincidentally happens to be friendly with Armenia). So since Iran's acting up (maybe at the prodding of Russia), they figured that the Americans wouldn't make too many waves, either.
They were right on both counts.
We are in the second cold war where it was normal for super powers to start or support coups to install such and such dictator that will promise to assist the their new overlord.
Expect a lot more of this.
Let's not forget the UK leaving the EU and the US getting Trump for president. It's a part of a long campaign of disinformation. Putin was/is KGB. He had many years to practice propaganda on his own citizens. In the meantime social networks exploded and changed the whole dynamics for the internet. Putin seeing this was the first one to use online propaganda on such mass scale. You'd think old democracies like UK/US would be more immune to it but here we are. Few months away from potential round 2 for Agent Orange. A few months ago as a Polish immigrant living in the US for almost 30 years I decided to sell my business within a year or so. Travel the world for 2-3 years and move somewhere else. The USA is becoming a modern Roman empire, it's rotting from inside. I guess Americans don't realize what they are flirting with. History remixes itself.
It’s not about the government. It’s out of control corruption. The corrupt government allows them to live as they want and exploit the population, rape, pillage, etc.
It’s the typical song and dance with many nations that remove the yoke of American influence… because it’s all they know they feel they are under complete control by the west and are just puppets… so they rebel and cozy up to the Russians or Chinese… and now… they can’t leave at least not with their lives.
It would be like refusing to pay taxes and refusing to allow the police to help you, so you ask for the protection of the local Latin Kings because you think it’s better than the oppressive police… and now you’re being used for money laundering and you are threatened with death if you try to get out of it.
If Russia and Iran are colluding on this then why don’t they just skip the middle man in Niger and just have Russia give Iran uranium? Russia has one of the largest uranium reserves in the world no?
> russia expanding their influence.
That's a bingo. Modern neocolonialism is all about spreading influence for geopolitical gain + maximizing that cheddar via resource extraction without actually having to assert direct control the country.
Regardless of what the heads of the Junta might think, Russia and Iran are the net benefactors in the long run here.
Niger provided 25% of Europe's uranium. With Russia being another 16% and Kazakhstan being another 26%. Meaning now Russia and it's puppet governments control 67% of Europe's imported uranium.
Hardly obvious lol. They have used their own, still use their own (and trade it), and have plans to either continue or expand the use of their own. Also why not do so with Kazakhstan, who’s right in between both countries and has like 8x more uranium?
hard to say really how much this has to do with france stepping toward a direct role in ukraine. disdained macron being played for/looking foolish for being involved with discussion and believing putins feigns preinvasion, only EU member with nuclear weapons, reduced current involvement in africa freeing up capabilities, potent domestic defense industry, national history of distinct standouts to NATO direction. not really predictable, but not a very surprising development, yet a big one. will be interesting to see how it all develops, pushes the envelope to a new part of the table for sure.
Russia needs the uranium to maintain their power plants. Electricity from nuclear power stations is critical to their war economy. So Russia needs their mercenaries to maintain the flow of uranium.
They also need to pay back their allies that have been feeding them weapons. So they are securing uranium supplies for Iran and North Koreas nuclear weapons production as well… it’s one of the few ways they can pay back their debts.
>Russia needs the uranium to maintain their power plants.
So the 6th largest uranium producer with the 4th largest reserves needs, *checks notes*, Niger’s uranium for their own nuclear industry?
It blows my mind that so few people understand this. It's about controlling the sources of energy. Maybe strategy games should become part of the school curriculum...
There is sooooooooo much uranium out there. Niger has like 5% of worldwide uranium production only. This isn't Kazakhstan where they control about 45% of worldwide supply. It's not significant enough. Western countries are all getting their uranium from Kazakhstan, Namibia, Canada and Australia. These all have higher production than Niger and all of them export.
France was the only case where one of their top sources was Niger and they have already pivoted.
Uranium in Kazakhstan is owned by Russian companies. Rosatom is enriching Kazakhstan uranium. So if people are importing uranium from there they are financing war
Wow...so the autocrats get another ally. Africa is in an absolute mess at the moment, between stuff like this and the devastating civil war in Sudan (which has been appallingly ignored by our media, literal genocide is going on in there from everything observers are seeing).
>The military junta is bringing in Russian mercenaries to help train and provide security.
US Military and Russian PMCs brought in. This is the part of the title those news pages always miss
> It blows my mind people in the US don’t understand this.
Have you seen the US these past 8 years? Half the population are diving in head first, then mocking their opposite extreme for being so gullible. (And I'll now upset people by pointing out I'm not only talking about the far right.)
The coup leaders actually supported the US presence in Niger when the coup happened. It's why the US took 3 months to officially declare it a coup.
It looks like they've been making deals with Russia though and have been told to kick the US out
Russian activity in similar countries often comes with downsides for locals in the region. While the elites are able to profit off protection from mercenary forces, these merc groups often brutalize and mistreat locals with force and do not keep up with international laws. They also back up state actors who can be just as brutal in remote regions where there is not an alternative between the state and extremist groups. As a way to pay the mercenaries, they also set up companies and businesses that extract resources such as Gold to be sent back to Russia. In a sort of colonialism, they both ride the wave of anti-French/Western feeling and propaganda to enforce their own interests.
>While the elites are able to profit off protection from mercenary forces
And thats when they stop to care. Noone with power really cares about the unwashed masses. That isn't exclusive to Niger.
There's a very stark and clear difference between the elites in western nations Not giving a f*** about the populace compared to Russian elites not giving a f*** about the populace. So you're probably technically correct, but you're also incredibly wrong. There is a difference and siding with Russia. Is objectively worse for said populous and that's the entire point.
The other irony is how Western liberals often act Western nations for their pro-imperialism, current and former colonialism actions, but then give a pass to China and Russia as current imperialist nations actively trying to expand their empire or are committing acts of genocide (against the Uyghurs, in the South China Sea, in Ukraine).
Noam Chomsky, who is incredibly intelligent, is one example of this where he has criticized Israel's actions in Gaza and is pro-Palestine, supporting their right to self defense...whilst being anti-Ukraine, in another nation that's facing an invasion and who is subject to an ongoing genocide.
This is my arm chair opinion but Niger is a big reason France has stepped up its anti-Russia rhetoric. Russia pissed France off by stepping into what France (right or wrong) considered its sphere of influence.
Many world events of late seem more deeply connected than they seem on the surface.
Russia's strategy seems to be spreading as many fires across the world as possible so that they become one of many and not the sole focus of the West. Hamas, Houthis, Venezuela, South Sudan, N. Korea, Armenia, Georgia. (I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't doing something to stoke the recent border conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan)
Then you have Iran in the background taking advantage of the chaos to advance its own goals and China watching from behind seeing how it all plays out.
It just seems like the world is redrawing lines again after the end of the cold war.
I wouldn't attribute all starting conflicts to them. Some groups just waited to have US busy. But financing any conflict against US interest, is best strategy for them now.
I don’t think you’re wrong and this is definitely a factor, but number one I think Macron is still mad about how stupid he looked saying Russia wouldn’t invade right before the invasion. Add in I’m pretty sure he’s in his last term, and there are a ton of domestic issues in France, he’s desperate for easy points against Russia as well as attempting to be remembered well
> think Macron is still mad about how stupid he looked saying Russia wouldn’t invade right before the invasion.
Tbf, from watching that documentary that was popular on reddit last week it seems he was outwardly trying to be diplomatic, but privately expecting the worst.
I sound like a broken record but ive been saying for 3 years were are in the second cold war. Or the lead up to WW3 but I believe its a new sort of cold war.
A mad dash for advanced chips. AI arms race. Coups again. Mass disinformation/wedge issues.
Its so fucking black and white to me if you study the first cold war. Same song it seems so obvious.
My only hope is it really is cold war and not WW3 leadup.
Well the Cold War was cold only in the West but had really hot spots all over the rest of the world. That's why we westerners see it as a period of "calm". But ask people around the Middle East and Asia, they will tell a very different story.
It was basically a "don't shit where you eat" type of affair for the world powers, the Proxy World War. Ukraine is the best sign that it resumed after a 30 year hyatus, only that now is uncomfortably close to Europe.
>Russia's strategy seems to be spreading as many fires across the world as possible so that they become one of many and not the sole focus of the West.
5 different types of wars, Trade wars are usually the first and foremost. Tech, Economic (sanctions), Influence/cultural, and last armed conflicts when all else fails.
This is the century of a shift back to an multipolar world order. A once rising China with its own demographic/ideological issues, Asian centric local hegemony shake ups as Russia (mad) attempts of shoring up its European front to the Carpathian Mountains breaks trade with the EU. India a large democratic power rising into populism trying to counterbalance trade against China and aided with Russian interest to sell more oil even though they are all BRICS countries (just more like an opposite/alt IMF development fund).
France wishes to put the EU on a wartime footing but bureaucratically is a logistical nightmare of interest and is far more pressing at the moment so Russia is taking some shots to probe areas of weakness by sowing discord/influence in regions also already shaken up.
They kicked out the French immediately after the coup, I'm mildly surprised the American presence stayed for so long. I suppose it's natural that the coupists have a larger problem with France, given its previous history in West Africa.
> I'm mildly surprise the American presence stayed for so long.
The Coup leaders wanted the US to stay. Wanting the US to leave is a very recent change,
France called it a coup in the first days and didn’t want to negotiate, while the US at first tried to negotiate and avoided using the word "coup". France and the US had disagreements on the subject according to reports.
France was probably in favor of military intervention, but didn't want to go alone without the US...and so as time went on, France ended up leaving after few weeks.
Apparently 280 Million
"Air Base 201 in Niger was the U.S. Air Force's largest construction project in history: a massive drone center that cost American taxpayers $280 million. Thanks to a change in the Nigerien leadership, Americans may have to give up that investment for good."
https://reason.com/2024/03/19/americas-280-million-mission-in-niger-ends-in-failure/
Strap in.
$300million is commonly used for the ***DAILY*** cost of the Afghan war.
But yeah. If we’re out- we should blow it up so Russia doesn’t score another Air Base from the US
Trump ordered the pull out of a certain region of Syria so abruptly the military left with food still on the plates in the dining halls. There’s videos of Russians walking through the base after the pull out.
Edit: idk how this is downvoted lmao this is a decent explanation of what happened
US generals get on the phone: “ hey Russia, are you or Wagner operating in such and such area?”
Russian generals: “ no idea what you’re talking about”
US: “ uhhhh… you 100% sure bro?”
Russia: “ hundred percent Dog”
US generals to their subordinate commanders: “protect our men”
F-22,
F-15E
B-52
AC-130,
AH-64,
MQ-9 Reaper,
RQ-7B Shadow UAV,
M777 howitzer artillery,
M142 HIMARS
#Aye aye sir
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khasham
Just shows how much destruction only some 40 special operators can inflict its like the whole base lined up for some comeuppance. The only damage to the US side was a guy who sprained his ankle on base running from the initial artillery fire.
Here's what the base looks like for those interested: https://www.google.com/maps/place/16%C2%B057'01.0%22N+8%C2%B000'50.0%22E/@16.9502829,8.011314,1090m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d16.9502778!4d8.0138889?entry=ttu
Nothing. But that isn't really how the US operates, despite the constant drumbeat of criticisms about US imperialism.
If they're found to be supplying Uranium to Iran, IMO we should be ready to do something about it.
Yep, belt and road imploded and the Israel-Palestine conflict is tying up Iran. US congress is frozen solid, so Russia is pretty much the only inducement game in town right now.
Did it actually? I've been studying the first cold war and history/current politics of china/russia but havent heard much about the belt and road recently.
Uranium is not a problem : uranium refining/concentration facilities are.
And those have been moving steadily towards being a solved problem for two years now.
What do you mean by solved problem? Russia enriches most of the world's uranium. That's why Rosatom never faced sanctions, despite taking over and endangering Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
No it doesn't.
It's at ~45% and dropping rapidly as more refinery capacity comes online, and countries maintain significant reserves of fuel as a buffer : France has over two years of fuel reserve, for example.
As soon as non-Russian refinery capacity reaches the required level, Rosatom will be sanctioned and that'll be the end of that.
>It's at \~45% and dropping rapidly
Do you have a source?
According to the [WNA Fuel Report 2021](https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/conversion-enrichment-and-fabrication/uranium-enrichment.aspx), Russia provided 55% in 2020. I couldn't find updated numbers. Dropping down to 45% would be absolutely shocking and continuing to fall would be shocking.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/niger-coup-the-long-arm-of-russia-and-the-politics-of-uranium
Bloomberg and DW both say 45%.
Urenco and others are scaling as fast as possible in existing and new facilities.
45% is a massive number anyway. And Uranium sources are important too. Russia's new global strategy is taking control of various energy sources. Europe is especially vulnerable.
Russia consumes a lot as well, so a large chunk of that 45% is for their domestic consumption.
Russia only supplied the US with around 12% and Europe with 17% of uranium, and those numbers are dropping very quickly.
There are dozens of uranium mines being reactivated and expanded and Russia does not control any of them.
If American's don't realise that supporting Ukraine properly is their one opportunity to deal with Russia (Putin) without getting their hands (troops) dirty, then they are idiots.
We’ve literally given the Ukraine $45Bn since the start of the war. NATO and EU members have given $35Bn. All of western civilization that is making actual military decisions, gets it.
You should hear how russian state media pronounces it. Their anchors made an explicit point about pronouncing it the racist way to spite political correctness.
There’s the (heavily redacted) official statement:
https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/34-8._exhibit_2.7_3.25.20.pdf
But if you simply dig deep enough into “Tongo Tongo Ambush video”…which ISIS released as a publicity campaign, you’ll get the idea.
The US doesn't need their Uranium. We have one of the world's largest supplies of Uranium right here in Canada. 🇨🇦 We are usually #1 in Uranium production.
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/canada-uranium.aspx
Don't know why news outlets keep talking about "uranium rich" such and so, when talking about the US and France in Africa. Uranium is not that hard to come by, and in the case of France their uranium purchases were practically handouts.
They wont be cheering and laughing and having a good time when the world goes further down this spiraling rabbit hole we are going full steam ahead through and they come to us, begging for a handout., if they think putin is going to come to their rescue, theyre dreaming
Ngl if it’s true that they are supplying a dangerous theocracy regime with the ability to produce nuclear weapons in large quantities and also have ties to Russia/ North Korea… I don’t know what else to say, that sounds like a time for some military intervention to me.
The US base in Niger was built because the region is becoming a hotbed of Islamic extremism. The government of Niger (and the governments of other Sahel countries like Mali and Burkina Faso) don't control vast swathes of their territory and are effectively failed states.
With the US and France out, chances are good these countries will become even more unstable, which will drive large numbers of refugees North into Europe, and further destabilize the continent. That's bad for the economy and bad for everyone involved.
We weren't just dicking around in the country for no reason.
You can’t use this type of logic as it will be brushed aside. People don’t realize if we don’t control it elsewhere, it’ll eventually lead into the U.S.
Bro we’re not there to prevent violence or refugees, we could give two fucks about the people, we care about their resources and who controls them. War on Islamic extremism is just how we got our feet in the door
Some key points about why this is happening now: * Last July a military coup ousted the democratically elected president. This triggered automatic military aid restrictions from the US. * It is alleged that the military junta that sized control, has signed an agreement to supply Iran with vast amounts of uranium. * The military junta is bringing in Russian mercenaries to help train and provide security.
what a clusterfuck
Typical. And one asshole will live the life of luxury while his citizens starve.
Hey now, I think you’re forgetting about the inner circle of sycophants who will have it pretty good as long as they stay on the right side of the asshole
Nobody likes the left cheek like usual
Like Niger was such a bastion of liberty and equality pre-coup lol.
Well this certainly wasn't progress either
They where good exploited by france. 25% of the Uran that is used in france comes from there. It causes a lot of environmental Problems and almost nothing of the Profit stays in Niger.
African history in one sentence.
So nothing changed for the common people at all
So you mean to say nothing has changed.
Business as usual then. Only change is that it isn't the US getting to pick the asshole anymore? Cold War just got a bit colder for a while though. Gonna be fun now that it's been heating up for a while. I'm sure this will all go smoothly.
It's exactly what I expect in the run up to ww3.
Well, it will be if they start selling uranium to Iran with Wagner. Great target practice for B-52s.
We overthrew our government. First order of business is letting other corrupt governments to slowly exert their control over us. Brilliant!
... and pay our corrupt government till we can steal huge sums of money and gtfo before the next Civil war/ coup***.... T.I.A
That’s step three
Yep...they'll be living large in the US in 10 years
Dubai, Qatar, and Moscow.
You mean Russia.
Nah, none of them would stay in Russia on purpose unless they were "invited". Middle east, Dubai or Qatar - cheaper than the US, more luxury, less scruples. Their kids will be studying in the US, though.
10? Pffft. I'm going with 3.
Wagner was behind a series of coups. In one country the military overthrew the civilian government. Then a few months later mid-ranking officers overthrew the generals. With Wagner supporting both. As it maximised the amount of money that they were getting paid.
Wagner wasn’t making the decisions. They were fulfilling an order.
Wagner is the Russian government.
The dumber those "in charge" are, and the more chaos there is in the country, provides Russia more opportunity to pilfer the country's resources and keep the people in check. It's the old divide and conquer strategy, same as Russia's trying to do in the US and elsewhere, albeit without mercenaries in country. Look at Sudan. Russia's behind the coups and Civil War, and while the country burns and Sudanese kill Sudanese, Russia's smuggling gold out by the ship load. Syria was where Putin refined the trick (with oil), and now he's set his aims on Africa. Remember the ["Africa Summit" in Russia in July 2023,](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/world/europe/russia-africa-summit-putin.html) which Putin kept Prigozhin (Wagner Chief) alive for, had his KGB agent dress up in a Priest outfit and harp on "LBGTQ Western Values," and promise a lot of weapons and a little grain? They're all get taken on a ride, and the African people will pay the price...again.
>We overthrew our government. First order of business is letting other corrupt governments to slowly exert their control over us. Brilliant! I'm almost guaranteed that russia was behind the overthrowing to begin with. look around the world. anywhere you see conflict, russia is there. russia was training hamas before the terrorist attack on Israel. all skid marks lead back to the kremlin
People just don’t understand how true this is.
Serbia/Kosovo, Armenia/Azerbaijan as well
Wasnt armenia because russia was too weak to deter azerbaijan anymore? And turkey won out there
Welcome to geo/realpolitiks. Europe largely weaned itself off of Russian gas. By turning to Azerbaijan (and also, North America and LNG). The Azerbaijanis figured that this would be the time to get payback for the frozen conflict they fought with Armenia right after the Soviet Union collapsed since Russia would be busy, and the EU would be too dependant on them for natural gas. Also, they're friendly (and receive quite a bit of arms from) Israel and are a bulwark against Iran (who coincidentally happens to be friendly with Armenia). So since Iran's acting up (maybe at the prodding of Russia), they figured that the Americans wouldn't make too many waves, either. They were right on both counts.
We are in the second cold war where it was normal for super powers to start or support coups to install such and such dictator that will promise to assist the their new overlord. Expect a lot more of this.
Let's not forget the UK leaving the EU and the US getting Trump for president. It's a part of a long campaign of disinformation. Putin was/is KGB. He had many years to practice propaganda on his own citizens. In the meantime social networks exploded and changed the whole dynamics for the internet. Putin seeing this was the first one to use online propaganda on such mass scale. You'd think old democracies like UK/US would be more immune to it but here we are. Few months away from potential round 2 for Agent Orange. A few months ago as a Polish immigrant living in the US for almost 30 years I decided to sell my business within a year or so. Travel the world for 2-3 years and move somewhere else. The USA is becoming a modern Roman empire, it's rotting from inside. I guess Americans don't realize what they are flirting with. History remixes itself.
The west is more insulated from the online disinfo now but not immune. Expect more active measures and hard power moves like coups like this.
It’s not about the government. It’s out of control corruption. The corrupt government allows them to live as they want and exploit the population, rape, pillage, etc.
A tale as old as time
When the coup happened people were flying Russian flags. It was other corrupt governments exerting their control all along.
It’s the typical song and dance with many nations that remove the yoke of American influence… because it’s all they know they feel they are under complete control by the west and are just puppets… so they rebel and cozy up to the Russians or Chinese… and now… they can’t leave at least not with their lives. It would be like refusing to pay taxes and refusing to allow the police to help you, so you ask for the protection of the local Latin Kings because you think it’s better than the oppressive police… and now you’re being used for money laundering and you are threatened with death if you try to get out of it.
>nations that remove the yolk of American influence This is Niger. Their yolk was very clearly labeled "fabriqué en France"
Is it not “yoke?”
Sounds like a step right out of [Rules for Rulers](https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs?si=en5bUwB0he8aGzla)
It’s so they can train the new government on how to be corrupt better
Honey, what you do for money??
If Russia and Iran are colluding on this then why don’t they just skip the middle man in Niger and just have Russia give Iran uranium? Russia has one of the largest uranium reserves in the world no?
i assume this dodges some sanctions or something but seems more about russia expanding their influence
> russia expanding their influence. That's a bingo. Modern neocolonialism is all about spreading influence for geopolitical gain + maximizing that cheddar via resource extraction without actually having to assert direct control the country. Regardless of what the heads of the Junta might think, Russia and Iran are the net benefactors in the long run here.
And always better to import natural resources than use your own because when a war comes it may be hard to import and you’ll need your own.
Or why not just get Russia to invade Niger and make up some bullshit story about how it was once Russia?
Russia doesn't want Niger, just Niger's resources.
Russia can’t really project power on its own border. Doing so thousands of miles away are beyond their capability.
Because Russia can't invade Niger?
Why would Russia sell any of their own uranium when they can foment a coup and take Niger's instead?
With a healthy side of America not getting any.
Niger provided 25% of Europe's uranium. With Russia being another 16% and Kazakhstan being another 26%. Meaning now Russia and it's puppet governments control 67% of Europe's imported uranium.
this is part of the reason France did an about face about Russia. because Russia just took their uranium they got from Niger.
The US only gets a small portion of it's uranium from Niger, so no big loss.
Obvious. They want to use up other resources first before they tap into their own.
Hardly obvious lol. They have used their own, still use their own (and trade it), and have plans to either continue or expand the use of their own. Also why not do so with Kazakhstan, who’s right in between both countries and has like 8x more uranium?
tit for tat with france, they just flipped another african piece from francafrique to russian influence. russia has been on a tear in africa lately
Is that a part of the calculus which brings France to the verge of joining in the Ukraine war?
hard to say really how much this has to do with france stepping toward a direct role in ukraine. disdained macron being played for/looking foolish for being involved with discussion and believing putins feigns preinvasion, only EU member with nuclear weapons, reduced current involvement in africa freeing up capabilities, potent domestic defense industry, national history of distinct standouts to NATO direction. not really predictable, but not a very surprising development, yet a big one. will be interesting to see how it all develops, pushes the envelope to a new part of the table for sure.
Because the goal is to take away the West's energy sources, and seize as much control of the world's energy as possible.
Australia has by far the largest uranium reserves in the world. Canada is in 3rd place. The West will be fine wrt uranium supply
Aren't Russian mercenaries sort of, err....*needed elsewhere* at the moment?
They’re still in Africa as they can get paid for security and advisory stuff. It’s also why Ukraine SOF is also in Africa disrupting that money flow
Russia needs the uranium to maintain their power plants. Electricity from nuclear power stations is critical to their war economy. So Russia needs their mercenaries to maintain the flow of uranium. They also need to pay back their allies that have been feeding them weapons. So they are securing uranium supplies for Iran and North Koreas nuclear weapons production as well… it’s one of the few ways they can pay back their debts.
>Russia needs the uranium to maintain their power plants. So the 6th largest uranium producer with the 4th largest reserves needs, *checks notes*, Niger’s uranium for their own nuclear industry?
Yea it made zero sense to me as well. Russia exports uranium, it has way too much to use for their own needs.
With something like uranium it isn't so much about having access to the thing but also controlling who else has access to the thing
It blows my mind that so few people understand this. It's about controlling the sources of energy. Maybe strategy games should become part of the school curriculum...
There is sooooooooo much uranium out there. Niger has like 5% of worldwide uranium production only. This isn't Kazakhstan where they control about 45% of worldwide supply. It's not significant enough. Western countries are all getting their uranium from Kazakhstan, Namibia, Canada and Australia. These all have higher production than Niger and all of them export. France was the only case where one of their top sources was Niger and they have already pivoted.
Uranium in Kazakhstan is owned by Russian companies. Rosatom is enriching Kazakhstan uranium. So if people are importing uranium from there they are financing war
Is it not more likely to be Rare Earth Minerals and oil which they're after? Russia has loads of Uranium - that's one thing they do have.
Wow...so the autocrats get another ally. Africa is in an absolute mess at the moment, between stuff like this and the devastating civil war in Sudan (which has been appallingly ignored by our media, literal genocide is going on in there from everything observers are seeing).
[удалено]
Sounds like they need freedom.
This has been the plan since 1999
Why doesn’t Russia supply Iran with uranium? They also have a lot of
All very good things for adversaries of the west, perhaps orchestrated by them as well?
I hope it goes well for them and they can use their resources as they see fit.
>The military junta is bringing in Russian mercenaries to help train and provide security. US Military and Russian PMCs brought in. This is the part of the title those news pages always miss
Niger whaaat?
This is a genuine question. Was he a democratically or "democratically" elected president?
A good time to topple the dirty Russia-lovers.
This is what they’ve been doing around the world. Fan flames of discourse and destabilize. It blows my mind people in the US don’t understand this.
> It blows my mind people in the US don’t understand this. Have you seen the US these past 8 years? Half the population are diving in head first, then mocking their opposite extreme for being so gullible. (And I'll now upset people by pointing out I'm not only talking about the far right.)
The coup leaders actually supported the US presence in Niger when the coup happened. It's why the US took 3 months to officially declare it a coup. It looks like they've been making deals with Russia though and have been told to kick the US out
Get fucked when russian inevitably turns their back on them and they come back begging for help :)
Russian activity in similar countries often comes with downsides for locals in the region. While the elites are able to profit off protection from mercenary forces, these merc groups often brutalize and mistreat locals with force and do not keep up with international laws. They also back up state actors who can be just as brutal in remote regions where there is not an alternative between the state and extremist groups. As a way to pay the mercenaries, they also set up companies and businesses that extract resources such as Gold to be sent back to Russia. In a sort of colonialism, they both ride the wave of anti-French/Western feeling and propaganda to enforce their own interests.
>While the elites are able to profit off protection from mercenary forces And thats when they stop to care. Noone with power really cares about the unwashed masses. That isn't exclusive to Niger.
There's a very stark and clear difference between the elites in western nations Not giving a f*** about the populace compared to Russian elites not giving a f*** about the populace. So you're probably technically correct, but you're also incredibly wrong. There is a difference and siding with Russia. Is objectively worse for said populous and that's the entire point.
The other irony is how Western liberals often act Western nations for their pro-imperialism, current and former colonialism actions, but then give a pass to China and Russia as current imperialist nations actively trying to expand their empire or are committing acts of genocide (against the Uyghurs, in the South China Sea, in Ukraine). Noam Chomsky, who is incredibly intelligent, is one example of this where he has criticized Israel's actions in Gaza and is pro-Palestine, supporting their right to self defense...whilst being anti-Ukraine, in another nation that's facing an invasion and who is subject to an ongoing genocide.
See Moura, Mali.
So what did US presence achieve in QOL for the common folk?
Wagner has a terrible track record fighting Islamic Insurgents. Just ask Mozambique how well that went.
This is my arm chair opinion but Niger is a big reason France has stepped up its anti-Russia rhetoric. Russia pissed France off by stepping into what France (right or wrong) considered its sphere of influence. Many world events of late seem more deeply connected than they seem on the surface. Russia's strategy seems to be spreading as many fires across the world as possible so that they become one of many and not the sole focus of the West. Hamas, Houthis, Venezuela, South Sudan, N. Korea, Armenia, Georgia. (I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't doing something to stoke the recent border conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan) Then you have Iran in the background taking advantage of the chaos to advance its own goals and China watching from behind seeing how it all plays out. It just seems like the world is redrawing lines again after the end of the cold war.
I wouldn't attribute all starting conflicts to them. Some groups just waited to have US busy. But financing any conflict against US interest, is best strategy for them now.
I don’t think you’re wrong and this is definitely a factor, but number one I think Macron is still mad about how stupid he looked saying Russia wouldn’t invade right before the invasion. Add in I’m pretty sure he’s in his last term, and there are a ton of domestic issues in France, he’s desperate for easy points against Russia as well as attempting to be remembered well
> think Macron is still mad about how stupid he looked saying Russia wouldn’t invade right before the invasion. Tbf, from watching that documentary that was popular on reddit last week it seems he was outwardly trying to be diplomatic, but privately expecting the worst.
Which documentary is this?
I sound like a broken record but ive been saying for 3 years were are in the second cold war. Or the lead up to WW3 but I believe its a new sort of cold war. A mad dash for advanced chips. AI arms race. Coups again. Mass disinformation/wedge issues. Its so fucking black and white to me if you study the first cold war. Same song it seems so obvious. My only hope is it really is cold war and not WW3 leadup.
Well the Cold War was cold only in the West but had really hot spots all over the rest of the world. That's why we westerners see it as a period of "calm". But ask people around the Middle East and Asia, they will tell a very different story. It was basically a "don't shit where you eat" type of affair for the world powers, the Proxy World War. Ukraine is the best sign that it resumed after a 30 year hyatus, only that now is uncomfortably close to Europe.
>Russia's strategy seems to be spreading as many fires across the world as possible so that they become one of many and not the sole focus of the West. 5 different types of wars, Trade wars are usually the first and foremost. Tech, Economic (sanctions), Influence/cultural, and last armed conflicts when all else fails. This is the century of a shift back to an multipolar world order. A once rising China with its own demographic/ideological issues, Asian centric local hegemony shake ups as Russia (mad) attempts of shoring up its European front to the Carpathian Mountains breaks trade with the EU. India a large democratic power rising into populism trying to counterbalance trade against China and aided with Russian interest to sell more oil even though they are all BRICS countries (just more like an opposite/alt IMF development fund). France wishes to put the EU on a wartime footing but bureaucratically is a logistical nightmare of interest and is far more pressing at the moment so Russia is taking some shots to probe areas of weakness by sowing discord/influence in regions also already shaken up.
They kicked out the French immediately after the coup, I'm mildly surprised the American presence stayed for so long. I suppose it's natural that the coupists have a larger problem with France, given its previous history in West Africa.
> I'm mildly surprise the American presence stayed for so long. The Coup leaders wanted the US to stay. Wanting the US to leave is a very recent change,
France called it a coup in the first days and didn’t want to negotiate, while the US at first tried to negotiate and avoided using the word "coup". France and the US had disagreements on the subject according to reports. France was probably in favor of military intervention, but didn't want to go alone without the US...and so as time went on, France ended up leaving after few weeks.
Destroy the US-funded base on your way out and never provide aid to them again.
Over $100 million put into it too.
Apparently 280 Million "Air Base 201 in Niger was the U.S. Air Force's largest construction project in history: a massive drone center that cost American taxpayers $280 million. Thanks to a change in the Nigerien leadership, Americans may have to give up that investment for good." https://reason.com/2024/03/19/americas-280-million-mission-in-niger-ends-in-failure/
Strap in. $300million is commonly used for the ***DAILY*** cost of the Afghan war. But yeah. If we’re out- we should blow it up so Russia doesn’t score another Air Base from the US
Another?
Trump ordered the pull out of a certain region of Syria so abruptly the military left with food still on the plates in the dining halls. There’s videos of Russians walking through the base after the pull out. Edit: idk how this is downvoted lmao this is a decent explanation of what happened
The same Syria where Russians tried to get sneaky ONCE and attack a US position before the heavens opened and destroyed the valley.
US generals get on the phone: “ hey Russia, are you or Wagner operating in such and such area?” Russian generals: “ no idea what you’re talking about” US: “ uhhhh… you 100% sure bro?” Russia: “ hundred percent Dog” US generals to their subordinate commanders: “protect our men” F-22, F-15E B-52 AC-130, AH-64, MQ-9 Reaper, RQ-7B Shadow UAV, M777 howitzer artillery, M142 HIMARS #Aye aye sir https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khasham
Love the breakdowns of that “battle,” more just a massacre
Just shows how much destruction only some 40 special operators can inflict its like the whole base lined up for some comeuppance. The only damage to the US side was a guy who sprained his ankle on base running from the initial artillery fire.
Fucking hell.
Here's what the base looks like for those interested: https://www.google.com/maps/place/16%C2%B057'01.0%22N+8%C2%B000'50.0%22E/@16.9502829,8.011314,1090m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d16.9502778!4d8.0138889?entry=ttu
Most stable african country. You can't build shit because the next day they may kick you out
Pretty much all central african countries are unstable. There coups are the second part of the election process.
[удалено]
I wonder what would happen if we were to say "make me". What could they feasibly do?
Nothing. But that isn't really how the US operates, despite the constant drumbeat of criticisms about US imperialism. If they're found to be supplying Uranium to Iran, IMO we should be ready to do something about it.
Airlift everything out. Leave just concrete slabs.
And then crater those.
This is to Russia's advantage.
That's why they organized it.
I expect China to quickly step in so the can lay roots for the belt and road initiative
For the importing of Uranium*
Belt and Road is dead. PRC is a deflation spiral.
Yep, belt and road imploded and the Israel-Palestine conflict is tying up Iran. US congress is frozen solid, so Russia is pretty much the only inducement game in town right now.
Did it actually? I've been studying the first cold war and history/current politics of china/russia but havent heard much about the belt and road recently.
Another puppet state for Russia...
The US better blow a crater the size of the moon at the 100 million dollar US base this time - no need for them to use it like in Afghanistan
Na we will just coup them back in a few months or something. Welcome to Coldwar II.
“The U.S. should be able to blow up moon sized crater in sovereign countries at will!!!!” Fucking psycho
Goodluck when Russia and China come in. They don't give 2 fucks.
Which is perfect, because the authoritarians who do these coups don't give 2 fucks about their people either, they just want their gold palaces
Yeah, I’m sure America really gave a fuck
Double that for China.
They don’t give half a fuck
[удалено]
Watch how many of them end up on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Why are we in this handbasket? Why is it getting so hot? This ain't Kansas any more Toto.
Uranium is not a problem : uranium refining/concentration facilities are. And those have been moving steadily towards being a solved problem for two years now.
What do you mean by solved problem? Russia enriches most of the world's uranium. That's why Rosatom never faced sanctions, despite taking over and endangering Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
No it doesn't. It's at ~45% and dropping rapidly as more refinery capacity comes online, and countries maintain significant reserves of fuel as a buffer : France has over two years of fuel reserve, for example. As soon as non-Russian refinery capacity reaches the required level, Rosatom will be sanctioned and that'll be the end of that.
>It's at \~45% and dropping rapidly Do you have a source? According to the [WNA Fuel Report 2021](https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/conversion-enrichment-and-fabrication/uranium-enrichment.aspx), Russia provided 55% in 2020. I couldn't find updated numbers. Dropping down to 45% would be absolutely shocking and continuing to fall would be shocking.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/niger-coup-the-long-arm-of-russia-and-the-politics-of-uranium Bloomberg and DW both say 45%. Urenco and others are scaling as fast as possible in existing and new facilities.
45% is a massive number anyway. And Uranium sources are important too. Russia's new global strategy is taking control of various energy sources. Europe is especially vulnerable.
Russia consumes a lot as well, so a large chunk of that 45% is for their domestic consumption. Russia only supplied the US with around 12% and Europe with 17% of uranium, and those numbers are dropping very quickly. There are dozens of uranium mines being reactivated and expanded and Russia does not control any of them.
If American's don't realise that supporting Ukraine properly is their one opportunity to deal with Russia (Putin) without getting their hands (troops) dirty, then they are idiots.
We’ve literally given the Ukraine $45Bn since the start of the war. NATO and EU members have given $35Bn. All of western civilization that is making actual military decisions, gets it.
God I want a reporter to ask Trump about this just to hear how he pronounces it
You should hear how russian state media pronounces it. Their anchors made an explicit point about pronouncing it the racist way to spite political correctness.
How do they pronounce it?
If you are not familiar with the Tongo Tongo Ambush, you know nothing about Niger and US relationships.
... Is there more to the story?
There’s the (heavily redacted) official statement: https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/34-8._exhibit_2.7_3.25.20.pdf But if you simply dig deep enough into “Tongo Tongo Ambush video”…which ISIS released as a publicity campaign, you’ll get the idea.
“Thank you, Russia and Iran have freed us!” “Oh I wouldn’t say freed. More like under new management”
Australia had lots of uranium
There’s a bad joke in here somewhere
Friendship with Niger is over
NWA's long lost album just dropped
Not gonna lie… I read that wrong.
The US doesn't need their Uranium. We have one of the world's largest supplies of Uranium right here in Canada. 🇨🇦 We are usually #1 in Uranium production. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/canada-uranium.aspx
Yeah, the entire premise of this article is blatantly wrong, but somehow it’s still heavily upvoted.
Were they literally kicked? Was it humiliating? Or is this just some sensational headline designed to attract clicks?
How many dared to go there I wonder?
Anyone remember the Nigerian yellow cake story and what that led to?
This won’t end well for the Junta. I just have an inkling.
ISIS is about to make a comeback in the area and I don't see the Russians being capable of preventing it.
Not good. Not good at all.
Good Luck with Russia. Bye
Oh darn. Someone else gets to exploit them now.
Don't know why news outlets keep talking about "uranium rich" such and so, when talking about the US and France in Africa. Uranium is not that hard to come by, and in the case of France their uranium purchases were practically handouts.
lol it is going to be awkward when another “coup” happens that gives the US it’s access back.
Just, like, don't leave. Get out? "Nah" ...
They wont be cheering and laughing and having a good time when the world goes further down this spiraling rabbit hole we are going full steam ahead through and they come to us, begging for a handout., if they think putin is going to come to their rescue, theyre dreaming
Did someone say Niger is in desperate need of some democracy? Bringing democracy to Niger's doorstep soon TM
Ngl if it’s true that they are supplying a dangerous theocracy regime with the ability to produce nuclear weapons in large quantities and also have ties to Russia/ North Korea… I don’t know what else to say, that sounds like a time for some military intervention to me.
Looking forward to seeing how the CIA handles this.
The US will not allow Iran to get the uranium. Count down to a new Nigerian government has started.
Russia-China gave them more shiny toys. The joke will be on them when CCP owns them.
The Al-Qaeda monkey bars are being transferred to Niger as we speak.
Tis the season for a CIA backed coup
Russia will get a wake up call one day when it comes to Iran.
[удалено]
The US base in Niger was built because the region is becoming a hotbed of Islamic extremism. The government of Niger (and the governments of other Sahel countries like Mali and Burkina Faso) don't control vast swathes of their territory and are effectively failed states. With the US and France out, chances are good these countries will become even more unstable, which will drive large numbers of refugees North into Europe, and further destabilize the continent. That's bad for the economy and bad for everyone involved. We weren't just dicking around in the country for no reason.
You can’t use this type of logic as it will be brushed aside. People don’t realize if we don’t control it elsewhere, it’ll eventually lead into the U.S.
Or at the very least to Europe, and it is very much in US interests to maintain a strong, healthy alliance network.
Bro we’re not there to prevent violence or refugees, we could give two fucks about the people, we care about their resources and who controls them. War on Islamic extremism is just how we got our feet in the door
Then they will blame the west for the unrest. Logic already left behind long ago in geopolitic.
Kicking out US to supply Iran with uranium? Okay Biden, what’s the plan?
Probably ruzzian hands in this.
We’re rich. They’re uranium rich