A screen grab from an handout video released on May 13, 2019 by the French Army shows French soldiers of the counter-terrorism Barkhane mission in Africa's Sahel region carrying the coffins, covered with a French national flag, of their comrade French soldiers Cedric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello during a funeral cerenomy at their base camp in northern Burkina Faso, ahead of the repatriation of the corps in France. AFP-Yonhap

LONDON – Africa’s Sahel region is enduring a period of rapid change – and deepening instability. Military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – now known as the Central Sahel – have rejected traditional partnerships with the West in favor of new patrons: China and Russia. Add to that the fragmentation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the region’s geopolitical map is being redrawn, with consequences that stretch far beyond West Africa.

Geopolitical developments are not the only source of volatility in the Sahel. Accelerating climate change – temperatures in the region are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average – is disrupting traditional lifestyles, undermining livelihoods, and threatening food security. But shifts in the regional balance of power are making matters much worse.

As of last month, French troops have withdrawn from the Sahel altogether, following the severing of defense ties by the region’s governments, from Mali to Chad. This process, together with the........

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