Event Resources and Recommendations: Learning from Niger: U.S. Security Assistance and Training (August 15, 2023)

On August 15, 2023, shortly after the ouster of the democratically elected president of Niger by military forces, the Forum on the Arms Trade hosted an event to discuss the U.S. involvement in training of military leaders who have gone on to replace their governments, the limitations placed on further U.S. assistance whether called a coup or not, the challenges of making decisions of which countries to aid especially as relates to training, and recommendations for improving those decisions and for much greater transparency in the future.

Video of that event is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTIIrB_E47I&t=168s

During and shortly after the event, panelists provided the following recommendations and suggested resources:*

Resources
via the Intercept (authored by Nick Turse)

• "Niger Junta Appoints U.S.-Trained Military Officers To Key Jobs," August 16, 2023
• "At Least Five Members Of Niger Junta Were Trained By U.S.," August 10, 2023
• "Niger Coup Leader Joins Long Line Of U.S.-Trained Mutineers," July 27, 2023
• "Drones and Motos: After Two Decades of U.S. Military Support, Terror Attacks Are Worse Than Ever in Niger," April 2, 2023

via International Crisis Group

• "The Attempted Coup in Niger: Avoiding Armed Conflict," August 7, 2023
• "The Complexities of Calling a Coup a Coup," February 23, 2022

via the Stimson Center Center

• "What Niger’s Coup Says About U.S. Security Assistance in the Sahel," August 17, 2023
• "'If we don’t sell it, someone else will:' Dependence & Influence in US Arms Transfers -- Examining assumptions about dependence and influence in the U.S. security cooperation enterprise," March 30, 2023

Recommendations/observations  (time of recording indicated, when available)

Nick Turse, contributing writer, The Intercept  

• Re-evaluation should be done to more greatly examine the possible relation of U.S. training and coups (32:07)

Sarah Harrison, Senior Analyst, U.S. Program, International Crisis Group  

• The United States should pay greater attention to the context of countries to which it provides security assistance, including a risk analysis of the potential for coups (34:14) 
• Reflect on whether security assistance actually leads to transformational democratic changes (35:40)
• Pay attention to local needs, not the outside frame of great power competition (42:08)

Elias Yousif, Research Analyst, Conventional Defense Program, Stimson Center

• Need detailed yearly reporting on U.S. security cooperation, such as on Title X authorities with specific country amounts and types of assistance. (39:05)
• Pay attention to disconnect between partners and U.S. goals and challenge the "If we don't sell, others will" assumptions (40:16)
• More robust, in-depth, and multidisciplinary pre-assessments should better inform the selection of U.S. security assistance beneficiaries and partners. (48:00)
• A greater emphasis should be placed on governance, civil-military reforms, and defense institution building as a prerequisite to combat-oriented assistance.

* Panelists at this event do not necessarily endorse the views and opinions of others, nor does the Forum necessarily endorse the views and opinions of others. Please feel free to contact panelists directly for additional conversation.