NPR: A look at what's next for Niger

An overnight coup in Niger, Africa should come of no surprise to western allies, political scientist Alex Thurston told NPR.

Thurston, an associate professor in UC’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), studies Islam and politics in northwest Africa, with a focus on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He has conducted field research in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso.

The interview states that more than a thousand U.S. troops are stationed in Niger, and a larger French force also operates there, conducting counter-terrorism operations alongside the Nigerian army. But Islamist insurgencies are getting worse in certain areas.

“France and the United States and others overlooked some serious governance problems - very strong presidency with sometimes shaky legitimacy,” Thurston remarked.

SPIA was created out of the former Department of Political Science, which dates to 1914. Experts from the school are regularly cited in national and international media outlets.

Listen to the interview  

Featured image at top courtesy of Unsplash/James Wiseman