The Sahel's Geography Problem
The three Sahel capitals sit a thousand kilometres or more from the nearest port. Every road to the coast passes through territory contested by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the al-Qaeda affiliate that now dominates the central Sahel. Every port at the end of those roads belongs to a coastal state aligned with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the bloc the juntas walked out of in 2024.
This map shows the geography that defeats interventions. France could not solve it. Russia cannot solve it. The distances are the same either way. The map sits alongside the sitrep Other People's Ports, which works through what the geography means for migration into Europe, French nuclear power, and the limits of Russian reach.
Related SITREPs
The Sahel's Geography Problem
Context & Analysis
The three Sahel capitals sit a thousand kilometres or more from the nearest port. Every road to the coast passes through territory contested by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the al-Qaeda affiliate that now dominates the central Sahel. Every port at the end of those roads belongs to a coastal state aligned with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the bloc the juntas walked out of in 2024.
This map shows the geography that defeats interventions. France could not solve it. Russia cannot solve it. The distances are the same either way. The map sits alongside the sitrep Other People's Ports, which works through what the geography means for migration into Europe, French nuclear power, and the limits of Russian reach.