Features of the US Foreign Policy towards Niger and Mali in 2012-2022

Currently, the perspective of US foreign policy faces a lot of challenges, starting with their decline as a superpower, and facing regional threats all the more often. But how does the US approach the notion of its own sustainability and why does it value Africa so much, as a region, where it acts and utilizes its policies and strategies. The thesis will cover the most essential and important factors of American foreign policy in Niger and Mali, as the most relevant for the research, due to the more involved policies of the US towards the two states. The thesis will approach the US foreign policy as a qualitative analysis of its securitization theory, regional security complex approaches and define both the roles of the state and non-state actors in the examples of France, AFRICOM, local governments and militias. The thesis focused on the reasons behind American security policies, their legislative background, implementation, theory and the actual outcomes the said policy provided, and the outcomes, which were evidently lead to the actual implementation. What was successful and what was lacking. The paper compiled the primary and secondary sources, evaluating the American policies since 2012-2023, indicating their focuses and main differences from the previous security strategies. Why US was satisfied with its low military presence in Mali and why exactly the United States did not follow the same path with Niger, deciding to invest time and resources into drone military bases, training of local forces and doubling down on policing the state. And why this strategy is beyond just the scopes of international security concerns and has actual benefits in its logic for the US.