Events, Verisoph

11 April 2011 French troops help block a coup and later depose Ivory Coast's Gbagbo 0 cit. After Ivory Coast's incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept his 2010 election loss, French forces, acting under a UN mandate, struck his residence with helicopters and armor, leading to his capture and the installation of Alassane Ouattara. The operation, coming decades after independence, was cited by critics across Africa as proof that France retained the willingness and capacity to determine the outcome of a former colony's internal political dispute by force. politics / war ●●

4 October 2011 Russian and Chinese vetoes paralyze the Council over Syria 0 cit. As Syria's civil war killed hundreds of thousands, Russia and China vetoed resolution after resolution aimed at pressuring the Assad government. The Council stood frozen while the war ground on for years. The deadlock became the clearest modern proof that the veto can stop the UN from acting even against mass killing. diplomacy / war ●●●

October 2011 The 2011 Iraq troop deal collapses over immunity 0 cit. Talks to keep US troops in Iraq past 2011 break down when Iraq's parliament refuses to grant them legal immunity from Iraqi courts. Without that guarantee Washington withdraws the remaining forces at the end of the year. The episode shows how central the immunity question is to where and whether US troops stay. diplomacy / war ●●

c. 2011 NSO Group and the export of Pegasus spyware 0 cit. The Israeli firm NSO Group develops Pegasus, spyware that can take over a target's phone and read messages, calls, and location. Sold to governments as a licensed export overseen by Israel's defense ministry, it becomes one of the most powerful surveillance tools on the market. It marks the rise of a private Israeli cyber-intelligence industry serving state clients abroad. technology / war ●●

11 April 2011 French forces help oust Gbagbo in Ivory Coast 0 cit. After a disputed election, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refuses to cede power to Alassane Ouattara, whom foreign observers recognized as the winner. French Licorne troops and United Nations forces strike Gbagbo's positions, and he is captured. France's decisive role in removing a sitting president drew charges of continued interference. politics / war ●●

9 July 2011 Sudan splits and South Sudan enters near the top 0 cit. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July 2011 after decades of civil war. It entered the index among the most fragile states almost at once, and both Sudans stayed high in the rankings. When South Sudan fell into its own civil war in 2013, its score climbed further. politics / war ●●●

16 January 2012 Mali War 0 cit. no story Tuareg separatists and jihadist groups seize northern Mali, prompting French intervention in 2013. Jihadist violence spreads across the Sahel and continues after French withdrawal. war ●●

10 December 2012 Central African Republic Civil War 0 cit. no story Seleka rebels overthrow the government, triggering sectarian fighting between Muslim and Christian militias. Thousands die and much of the country remains outside state control. religion / war ●●

November 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense 0 cit. An eight-day Israeli operation in Gaza in 2012 followed rocket fire and the killing of a Hamas commander. A ceasefire ended the fighting. politics / war ●●

12 December 2012 De Silva Review published 0 cit. Sir Desmond de Silva published his government-commissioned review of the murder of Pat Finucane, finding "shocking levels of state collusion" involving the Army's Force Research Unit, RUC Special Branch, and MI5, including the supply of intelligence used to select him as a target. Prime Minister David Cameron apologised for the collusion but the review fell short of a full public inquiry, which the Finucane family and human rights groups had long demanded and continued to seek afterward. The family rejected the review as inadequate compared to a full statutory inquiry. politics / war ●●●

2012 The M23 rebellion and the unending eastern war 0 cit. Former CNDP fighters mutinied to form the March 23 Movement, or M23, which briefly seized the city of Goma in November 2012. UN Groups of Experts reported that Rwanda armed and directed the group, a charge Rwanda has consistently denied. M23 was pushed back in 2013 but revived years later, a sign that the roots of the Great War of Africa were never pulled up. politics / war ●●●

2012 Rwanda and the M23 rebellion 0 cit. Successive UN Group of Experts reports have found that Rwanda armed, trained, and commanded the M23 rebel movement fighting in eastern Congo, first around 2012 and again in the surge from 2021 onward. By 2024 UN experts estimated thousands of Rwandan troops were operating alongside M23 as it seized territory and major towns. Rwanda denies backing M23 and says it is defending itself against Hutu militias linked to the 1994 genocide, a dispute that keeps the region at war three decades on. politics / war ●●●

June 2012 Kenya joins the African Union mission in Somalia 0 cit. Kenyan forces that entered Somalia in October 2011 against al-Shabaab are folded into the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, which later becomes the ATMIS transition mission in 2022. The deployment is backed by the UN Security Council and funded largely by the EU and other outside partners. Defenders cite regional security and border protection, while critics note that troop financing and mandates are shaped by external donors and institutions. politics / war ●●

August 2012 to 2013 Pokomo and Orma clash in the Tana delta 0 cit. From August 2012 into early 2013, Pokomo farmers and Orma herders fought a series of deadly clashes in the Tana River delta over farmland, water and grazing access, inflamed by politics before the 2013 elections. Both communities suffered attacks on their villages, with machetes and firearms used and homes burned. According to news and human-rights reports, well over a hundred people died and tens of thousands were displaced, and later inquiries cited resource competition and political incitement. environment / war ●●●

15 December 2013 to 22 February 2020 South Sudanese Civil War 0 cit. no story A power struggle between President Kiir and Vice President Machar splits the world's newest country along ethnic lines. Nearly 400,000 die from violence and famine before a unity government forms in 2020. politics / war ●●●

April 2013 to 23 March 2019 War Against the Islamic State 0 cit. no story The Islamic State seizes a third of Iraq and much of Syria and declares a caliphate in 2014. A US-led coalition, Iraqi forces, and Kurdish fighters destroy its territorial state by 2019. religion / war ●●●●

16 January 2013 In Amenas hostage crisis 0 cit. Militants linked to Al-Qaeda seized the Tigantourine gas facility near In Amenas and took foreign workers hostage. About 40 hostages died before Algerian forces retook the site. economy / war ●●●

c. 1 January 2013 Arming Syrian rebels rebounds 0 cit. US and allied programs to arm Syrian rebels saw weapons and fighters flow to hardline groups, and some materiel reached jihadist factions. Officials later acknowledged the effort had limited control over where support ended up. politics / war ●●●

11 January 2013 France launches Operation Serval in Mali 0 cit. France deployed troops to Mali, a former colony, to stop an Islamist and separatist advance toward the capital Bamako, at the Malian government's request. The intervention, and its 2014 successor Operation Barkhane covering the wider Sahel, kept French forces engaged in former French West Africa for nearly a decade afterward, reinforcing the region's continued dependence on French military power even after six decades of formal independence. diplomacy / war ●●

c. 2013 MRAPs and battlefield vehicles reach small-town departments 0 cit. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wound down, the military offloaded mine-resistant ambush-protected trucks, or MRAPs, and other armored vehicles to police through the 1033 Program. Departments in small towns and rural counties, some with only a handful of officers and little violent crime, acquired vehicles built to survive roadside bombs. Reporters and researchers highlighted the mismatch as a vivid emblem of how far military hardware had spread into routine American policing. society / war ●●

c. 2013 The US drone and special-operations network in the Sahel 0 cit. Across the 2010s the United States builds a light footprint of drone bases, surveillance outposts, and special-operations training missions across the Sahel, run largely from Niger and Djibouti. Reporting by journalist Nick Turse and others documents US activity in dozens of African countries, much of it low-profile. The model favors small teams and remote strikes over large permanent bases. technology / war ●●

11 January 2013 Operation Serval sends French forces into Mali 0 cit. France launches Operation Serval to stop jihadist fighters advancing on the Malian capital. French airstrikes and ground troops push the militants back from the towns of the north. The intervention is welcomed at first but marks the start of a long French military presence in the Sahel. politics / war ●●●

c. 2013 NRT fields mobile anti-poaching units across the north 0 cit. The Northern Rangelands Trust runs specialized mobile rapid-response teams, drawn from conservancy rangers, to chase poachers and armed cattle raiders across county lines. The units are equipped with vehicles, radios, and firearms and operate over a vast area. Backers describe them as a wildlife-protection force; critics describe a private paramilitary operating with little public oversight. politics / war ●●

20 February 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War 0 cit. no story Russia seizes Crimea and backs separatists in the Donbas in 2014, then launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Europe's largest war since 1945 has killed hundreds of thousands and continues. politics / war ●●●●●

21 September 2014 Yemeni Civil War 0 cit. no story Houthi rebels seize the capital Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition intervenes against them from 2015. War, blockade, and famine create one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with hundreds of thousands dead. war ●●●

16 May 2014 to 23 October 2020 Second Libyan Civil War 0 cit. no story Rival governments in Tripoli and the east fight for control of Libya, drawing in Turkey, Russia, Egypt, and the UAE. A 2020 ceasefire freezes the division of the country. politics / war ●●

12 June 2014 Camp Speicher massacre 0 cit. Islamic State fighters captured and killed around 1,700 mostly Shia Iraqi military cadets near Camp Speicher in Tikrit. It was one of the deadliest mass killings of the Iraqi conflict. religion / war ●●●

6 April 2014 War in Donbas Begins 0 cit. Pro-Russian separatists, with Russian backing, seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, sparking war with Ukrainian forces. Ukraine and Western governments describe the fighting as Russian aggression, while Russia long denied direct involvement. politics / war ●●●●

17 July 2014 Downing of Flight MH17 0 cit. A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was shot down over separatist-held Donbas, killing all 298 people aboard. An international investigation concluded it was hit by a missile brought from Russia, which denies responsibility. politics / war ●●●

July 2014 to 2014 The 2014 Gaza War 0 cit. A seven-week war in Gaza in 2014, called Operation Protective Edge, killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and about 70 Israelis. Israel cited rocket fire and cross-border tunnels as reasons. politics / war ●●●

9 December 2014 Senate report on CIA torture program released 0 cit. The Senate Intelligence Committee publishes a declassified 525-page executive summary of its study into the CIA's post-9/11 detention and interrogation program. It concludes the program's methods were more brutal than the CIA had disclosed and did not produce unique intelligence that could not have been obtained through other means, a conclusion the CIA publicly disputed. politics / war ●●●

1 August 2014 Operation Barkhane spreads French forces across the Sahel 0 cit. France replaces Serval with Barkhane, a wider counter-insurgency mission covering Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. Several thousand troops operate from bases across the region, headquartered in Chad. Over the following years the mission grows unpopular as the violence keeps spreading. politics / war ●●●

12 February 2015 Minsk II 0 cit. Package of measures brokered by France and Germany to end the war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists. Never fully implemented, it collapsed with Russia's 2022 invasion. diplomacy / politics / war ●●●

c. 3 January 2015 Baga massacre 0 cit. Boko Haram overran the town of Baga and nearby villages in northeastern Nigeria. Estimates of the dead ranged from about 150 to as many as 2,000 people. religion / war ●●●

20 March 2015 Sana'a mosque bombings 0 cit. Suicide bombers attacked two mosques used by Houthi worshippers in Sana'a, killing about 142 people. The Islamic State group claimed the attack. religion / war ●●●

12 February 2015 Minsk Agreements 0 cit. Ukraine, Russia, and separatist representatives signed ceasefire deals brokered with France and Germany to end the Donbas fighting. The agreements were never fully carried out, and the conflict remained frozen and deadly. politics / war ●●●

24 November 2016 Colombian peace agreement 0 cit. Final agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas ending more than fifty years of armed conflict. A first version was rejected by referendum before the revised text was signed and ratified by Congress. diplomacy / politics / war ●●●

3 July 2016 Karrada bombing in Baghdad 0 cit. An Islamic State suicide truck bomb struck a busy shopping district in Karrada during Ramadan, killing more than 340 people. It was one of the deadliest single bombings in Baghdad since 2003. religion / war ●●●

c. 2016 Ethiopia repeatedly shuts down the internet 0 cit. Ethiopia imposed repeated internet shutdowns during protests, exams, and conflict. A prolonged blackout in the Tigray region during the civil war lasted roughly two years. politics / war ●●●

c. June 2016 Operation Kenova launched 0 cit. Bedfordshire Chief Constable Jon Boutcher was appointed to lead Operation Kenova, a large-scale investigation into the activities of the Army agent known as Stakeknife, including killings and abductions carried out by the IRA's internal security unit while it was allegedly under British intelligence direction. The investigation examined whether British authorities had known of or facilitated murders in order to protect their agent. It was the largest and most complex investigation of its kind into the intelligence services' conduct during the Troubles. politics / war ●●

6 July 2016 Chilcot Report on the Iraq War 0 cit. The Chilcot Report concluded that the UK had joined the 2003 invasion of Iraq before peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted, that the case for war was presented with unwarranted certainty, and that planning for the aftermath was seriously inadequate. It did not rule on the legality of the war but was strongly critical of the decision-making process under Tony Blair's government. Blair maintained he had acted in good faith, while critics said the report vindicated long-standing objections to the war. politics / war ●●●

15 July 2016 The 28 pages on the 9/11 attacks are declassified unproven 0 cit. The US government released a long classified section of the 2002 congressional inquiry into the September 11 attacks, known as the 28 pages. The material described contacts between some hijackers and individuals connected to Saudi Arabia, raising questions about possible foreign support. Officials stressed the passages held unverified leads rather than proven findings, and the Saudi government denied any involvement. politics / war ●●●

7 July 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 0 cit. First treaty comprehensively banning nuclear weapons, adopted by 122 states at the United Nations. The nuclear-armed states and most of their allies have not joined. diplomacy / politics / war ●●●

3 September 2017 North Korea's thermonuclear test 0 cit. North Korea's sixth and largest nuclear test yields well over 100 kilotons, consistent with its claim of a hydrogen bomb for an ICBM. The test marks the country's arrival as a de facto thermonuclear power. politics / war ●●●

14 October 2017 14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings 0 cit. A truck bomb detonated in the Hodan district of Mogadishu, killing around 587 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia's history. It was widely attributed to Al-Shabaab. religion / war ●●●

31 May 2017 May 2017 Kabul bombing 0 cit. A truck bomb detonated in the fortified diplomatic quarter of Kabul during the morning rush hour, killing more than 150 people and wounding over 400. It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital. politics / war ●●●

22 June 2017 Charles inherits the title Captain General Royal Marines from his father 0 cit. On his 96th birthday, Prince Philip transferred the ceremonial title of Captain General Royal Marines to his son, Prince Charles, marking Philip's retirement from public military patronages. The Captain General title has been held by a member of the royal family since the role's creation, symbolizing the sovereign's household link to the corps. It carries no operational authority. war ●

2017 Poland stands up a Territorial Defence Force 0 cit. Poland created a new Territorial Defence Force of part-time volunteers, wary of Russia after its seizure of Crimea in 2014. Members train near home and are meant to reinforce the regular army and support their own regions in a crisis. It was part of a wider return to home-guard style forces across eastern Europe. politics / war ●

4 October 2017 The Tongo Tongo ambush kills four US soldiers in Niger 0 cit. Militants linked to the Islamic State ambush a joint US-Nigerien patrol near the village of Tongo Tongo, killing four US Army soldiers and several Nigerien troops. The deaths surprise many in Congress who did not know the scale of the US special-operations presence in the Sahel. The incident briefly forces a public reckoning with the light-footprint war in Africa. politics / war ●●

March 2017 The rancher Tristan Voorspuy is shot dead 0 cit. Tristan Voorspuy, a British-born safari operator and co-owner of the Sosian ranch, is shot dead while inspecting lodges burned during the invasions. His killing becomes a symbol of the violence of the 2017 crisis. It also draws attention to the deep resentment between large landowners and herders competing for the same ground. society / war ●●

April 2017 Kuki Gallmann is shot and wounded on her conservancy 0 cit. Kuki Gallmann is shot and badly wounded on her Laikipia conservancy during the same wave of unrest, after buildings on the property are burned. She survives. The attack on one of Laikipia's most prominent conservation figures underlines how the land conflict reaches into even the best-known private holdings. society / war ●●

20 December 2019 Founding of the Space Force 0 cit. President Trump signs the defense bill creating the United States Space Force as the sixth armed service, built from Air Force space units. It is the first new military service since the Air Force in 1947, charged with defending American assets in orbit. technology / war ●●●

14 February 2019 Pulwama attack 0 cit. A suicide bomber from the group Jaish-e-Mohammed struck a convoy of Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama, Kashmir, killing 40 personnel. The attack triggered air strikes between India and Pakistan. politics / war ●●●

c. 2019 The Agadez drone base rises in Niger 0 cit. The United States builds Air Base 201 near Agadez in Niger at a cost of about 100 million dollars, opening it for drone operations around 2019. It becomes a central node for surveillance and strikes against militants across the Sahel. The base is one of the largest US construction projects on the continent. technology / war ●●

April 2019 Yemen becomes the most fragile state 0 cit. The 2019 index placed Yemen at number one, with a score of 113.5. Years of civil war, foreign air strikes, economic collapse, and a large-scale hunger crisis had driven its score up sharply. Yemen held the top position in the years that followed. economy / war ●●●

29 February 2020 Doha Agreement 0 cit. Agreement between the United States and the Taliban providing for withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban counterterrorism commitments. It preceded the collapse of the Afghan republic in 2021. diplomacy / politics / war ●●●

27 September 2020 to 10 November 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War 0 cit. Azerbaijan, using Turkish-supplied drones, retakes much of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian forces in six weeks. A further offensive in 2023 ends the Armenian enclave entirely. war ●●●

3 November 2020 to 2 November 2022 Tigray War 0 cit. Ethiopia's federal government and Eritrea fight the Tigray People's Liberation Front in a war marked by massacres, mass rape, and blockade-induced famine. Estimates of the dead run into the hundreds of thousands before the Pretoria peace deal. war ●●●

5 January 2020 Al-Shabaab attacks the US base at Manda Bay 0 cit. In January 2020 al-Shabaab fighters breach Camp Simba at Manda Bay in Kenya, an airfield used by US forces. The attack kills one US soldier and two American contractors and destroys several aircraft. It exposes the vulnerability of the light US footprint in East Africa. politics / war ●●

15 September 2021 AUKUS 0 cit. Trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, centered on providing Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Its announcement canceled a French submarine deal and angered Paris. diplomacy / politics / technology / war ●●●

1 February 2021 Myanmar Civil War 0 cit. no story The military's 2021 coup against the elected government triggers nationwide armed resistance allied with ethnic insurgencies. Large parts of the country slip from junta control as the war continues. politics / war ●●●

15 August 2021 Fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 0 cit. On 15 August 2021 the Taliban entered Kabul as the government collapsed and the president fled. The fall ended the Western-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. politics / war ●●●●

1 February 2021 Myanmar cuts the internet after a military coup 0 cit. Following the February 2021 coup, Myanmar's military imposed repeated internet shutdowns and social media blocks. The measures aimed to stop coverage and coordination of protests. politics / war ●●●

c. 2021 Taiwan revives civil defence against invasion fears 0 cit. Facing pressure from China, private and public efforts in Taiwan pushed to prepare ordinary citizens for a possible invasion, including the civilian-run Kuma Academy which teaches basic defence and emergency skills. The government later extended conscription and reorganised mobilisation of reservists and civil defence. The moves echo the old home-guard idea, that a population must be ready to help defend its own island. politics / war ●●

c. 2021 Roughly 750 US bases in about 80 countries 0 cit. Anthropologist David Vine counts around 750 US military bases spread across roughly 80 countries and territories, by far the largest network of foreign bases any nation has ever maintained. For comparison, all other countries combined operate only a few dozen bases abroad. Vine argues in Base Nation and later work that this footprint reflects a standing posture of global military dominance, not just temporary wartime need. politics / war ●●●

27 July 2021 Kenya and the UK sign a new Defence Cooperation Agreement 0 cit. Kenya and the United Kingdom sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement replacing a 2015 pact, governing the British Army Training Unit Kenya near Nanyuki, where thousands of UK troops train each year. Kenya's National Assembly ratifies it in April 2023 after disputes, including over the unresolved 2012 killing of Agnes Wanjiru near the base. Defenders cite training, jobs, and security cooperation, while sovereignty critics point to legal immunities for foreign soldiers and a continued colonial-era military footprint. politics / war ●●●

August 2021 Afghanistan's score jumps after the Taliban return 0 cit. The Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021 as foreign forces withdrew and the Western-backed government collapsed. The index recorded one of its largest single-year worsenings for Afghanistan in the edition that followed. The change was a clear case of a country's score moving with a real political event. politics / war ●●●

24 February 2022 Russia launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine 0 cit. Russian forces invade Ukraine from the north, east, and south in the largest attack on a European state since 1945. The moment shatters the post-Cold War security order, revives NATO, and turns energy and food into geopolitical weapons. politics / war ●●●●

24 February 2022 Full-Scale Russian Invasion of Ukraine 0 cit. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, striking cities across the country and attempting to seize the capital. Russia called it a special military operation, while Ukraine and most of the world condemned it as an unprovoked war of aggression. politics / war ●●●●●

4 March 2022 Russia blocks Western platforms after invading Ukraine 0 cit. After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia blocked Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and passed a law criminalizing so-called fake news about the military. The measures sharply tightened control over online information. politics / war ●●●●

15 August 2022 France ends its military presence in Mali 0 cit. France completed the withdrawal of its remaining troops from Mali after nearly a decade of deployment, following a rupture with Mali's military government, which had turned to Russian-linked Wagner Group forces instead. The withdrawal marked one of the most significant ruptures in the postcolonial French-African defense relationship since the original 1960s-era accords, and was followed by similar troop withdrawals from Burkina Faso and Niger in subsequent years. diplomacy / war ●●

February 2022 Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces mobilise against invasion 0 cit. A 2022 law made Territorial Defence a full branch of the armed forces, and after Russia's full-scale invasion in February tens of thousands of civilians joined local units to defend their towns. Ordinary people took up arms to guard streets, checkpoints and supply lines while the regular army fought at the front. It became the clearest modern example of a home guard raised at speed in a real war of national survival. politics / war ●●●

26 February 2022 Russia's reserves frozen after the invasion of Ukraine 0 cit. After Russia invades Ukraine, the United States and its allies freeze roughly 300 billion dollars of Russian central bank reserves held abroad and cut major Russian banks from SWIFT. Freezing another state's reserves was a striking use of financial power. It also pushed many governments to ask whether holding dollars was as safe as they had assumed. economy / politics / war ●●●

15 August 2022 Mali expels French forces after its coups 0 cit. After two coups the Malian junta turns to Russian mercenaries and demands that French troops leave. France completes the withdrawal of Barkhane from Mali, handing over its last base at Gao. The rupture ends nearly a decade of French military operations in the country. politics / war ●●●

15 April 2023 Sudanese Civil War (2023-present) 0 cit. no story Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces turn on each other, devastating Khartoum and Darfur. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced over ten million people, and produced famine and ethnic massacres. war ●●●

7 October 2023 Gaza War 0 cit. no story Hamas attacks Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking hostages, and Israel responds with a devastating campaign in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians die and the war ripples across the region. politics / war ●●●●

7 October 2023 October 7 attacks on Israel 0 cit. Hamas-led fighters broke through the Gaza border and attacked Israeli communities, military posts and a music festival, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. The attack triggered the war in Gaza. politics / war ●●●●

7 October 2023 The Gaza War of 2023 0 cit. Israel launched a large-scale air and ground campaign in Gaza after the 7 October 2023 attack. The war caused tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and a severe humanitarian crisis, with casualty figures and framings disputed by the parties. politics / war ●●●●

September 2023 Exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh 0 cit. After a months-long blockade, Azerbaijan launches a one-day offensive in September 2023 that forces the self-declared Armenian republic to surrender and dissolve. Nearly the entire ethnic Armenian population, more than one hundred thousand people, flees to Armenia within days. Armenia calls the departure ethnic cleansing, while Azerbaijan says residents left voluntarily; the characterization is disputed. politics / society / war ●●

22 December 2023 Burkina Faso and Niger throw out French troops 0 cit. Following coups in both countries, the new military governments order French forces to leave. France pulls out of Burkina Faso early in 2023 and, after the July coup in Niger, withdraws about 1,500 troops from Niamey by the end of the year. The expulsions close most of France's military footprint in the Sahel. politics / war ●●●

September 2024 The US leaves Air Base 201 after Niger's coup 0 cit. After a July 2023 coup, Niger's new military government orders US forces out. The United States completes its withdrawal from Air Base 201 near Agadez by September 2024, giving up its main drone hub in the region. The exit follows the retreat of French forces and reflects a broader collapse of Western military access in the Sahel. politics / war ●●

29 October 2025 Kenya and France sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement 0 cit. Kenya and France sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement covering maritime security, intelligence sharing, peacekeeping, training, and disaster response, ratified by Kenya's Parliament in April 2026. The automatically renewable pact grants French forces diplomatic-style immunity and routes disputes through diplomatic channels rather than Kenyan courts. Defenders present it as diversifying security partners, while critics warn of neo-colonial influence, citing France's history of unequal military ties in West Africa. politics / war ●●