When leaders of Sahel states speak of ‘foreign sponsors of destabilization’, they are referring directly to France, the UK, the US, and NATO Late last month, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso jointly announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). United under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), these three countries, which before had distanced themselves from the regional economic bloc ECOWAS, having accused it of serving as a tool of foreign powers, particularly France,