Drone Base in Niger: Diplomacy or Neocolonialism?

Authored By: Alison Davis

Niger – not to be confused with its neighbor, Nigeria – is a West African nation in the Sahel region known for onion and livestock production. It is also ranked 188 of 188 nations on the United Nations Human Development Index (UNHDI) meaning it is the least developed country in the world.[1] The nation’s people are plagued by poverty, illiteracy, food insecurity, and literally  plagues of locusts.

So, why is the US building a $100 million drone base there? From a US national security perspective, it makes sense – in closer proximity to Boko Haram and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the location demonstrates an increased emphasis on counterterrorism operations in the region. This is especially relevant considering Boko Haram’s increasing collaboration with ISIS. Why, however, has Niger allowed the US to use its territory to conduct drone operations? Was this decision calculated to align itself with a military superpower or was it a decision coerced through decades of development and aid promises to the impoverished nation?

Aligning with a superpower sounds like an excellent way for a small nation to make its mark and protect itself. Niger has sent troops to battle Boko Haram in Nigeria, and is presently coping with an influx of over 115,000 displaced Nigerians in the Diffa region. There is no doubt that the country certainly stands to benefit in the short term through the ongoing training of its own armed forces and improved intelligence gathering in order to prevent attacks by Boko Haram. The long-term consequences deserve analysis, however, considering the US’s long history of finding itself in precarious situations once instability descends on a country – as is prone to happen when leaders attempt to retain power, and as happened only six years ago in Niger.  In cases like these, the US finds itself with a dilemma: prop up a dictator or lose a military ally – the former promises disastrous consequences for civilians (as in the case of Hissène Habré), but the latter compromises US national security interests.

Even if Niger remains politically stable despite having many of the risk factors for instability as outlined in the UNHDI, it is unclear how aid-dependent countries like Niger are freely able to engage in such high-stakes diplomacy with western nations at all. If they are, then when an MQ-9 Reaper inevitably strikes its first target in the region, Niger should be prepared to make its alliance permanent. And with the accuracy of drone strikes in question yet again, Niger may have taken on more than it can manage.

---

[1] Somalia and North Korea are not in the rankings. Find the full 2015 UNHDI report at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2015_human_development_report.pdf.