War on terror 

U.S. Military Operational Activity in the Sahel

In the 2018 National Defense Strategy, the Department of Defense announced a shiftaway from counterterrorism operations around the world to focus on major state power competition. One year on, as the United States seems poised to wind down its military campaigns against non-state actors in Syria and Afghanistan, it is worth examining if and how the Trump administration is implementing this realignment elsewhere. One such potential reorientation is in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin regions of central Africa, which in recent years had seen a steady expansion of U.S. military presence. Though these areas remain mired in political instability and beset by insurgents returning from the Middle East, the United States declared its intent in early August 2018 to withdraw many of its troops from the area. This post serves as a backgrounder on the armed non-state actors operating in central Africa, and the current state of U.S. operational activity in the region.