THE COUP IN NIGER:
Why did it happen and how will it impact Europe?

This summer`s coup in Niger is the fifth military coup in three years in Sahel, the dry savannah area south of the Sahara. Since President Gaddafi was killed and Libya destabilized, conditions have significantly worsened in the Sahel region. Militias and Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and Boko Haram gained easy access to weapons and quickly took over large areas.

France, the former colonial power, responded swiftly with military intervention in Mali, but failed. Other EU countries, the US, and the UN have engaged in the Sahel with military bases, drones, and security installations. There is a fear that the entire region might collapse, followed by an exploding migration wave northward.

In Niger the coup-makers have refused to back down, and protesters chant support for Russia in Niamey, Niger's capital.

- What is the background to the conflict?
- What might the coup d'etat and the insecurity mean for Europe?
- What is UiT- Arctic University of Norway doing in Niger, and
the region?

PARTICIPANTS

IN THE PANEL:

Professor Emerita Lisbet Holtedahl
She did a one year long fieldwork in the small town Mainé-Soroa, in Eastern Niger, in 1970. Holtedahl studied village life and its transformations in the then newly created state; while it was losing its “innocence” being introduced to the complexities of the so-called “post-colonial world”. At this seminar Holtedahl will present her new book (2023), a photo ethnography from Maine Soroa and talk about transformations in this eastern region since the 1970ies.

Professor Trond Waage
He has long experience doing research through filmmaking and institutional collaboration in the Sahel. He is currently in charge of a university collaboration project between UiT, two universities in Cameroon, and the university in Niamey, Niger and Bamako, Mali, which is building up competence in Visual Anthropology and filmmaking in the region. Waage visited Niger in May. He will talk about the background of the conflict, emphasizing on governance, corruption and the Nigerein/Sahelien relation to France.

MODERATOR
Larry Ibrahim Mohammed
PhD Research Fellow, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway.

Additional speakers to be confirmed.