海角大神

For decades Burkina Faso had avoided the messy coups, civil wars, and terrorist insurgencies that besieged many of its West African neighbors. At the same time,聽former President Blaise Compaor茅 鈥� who resigned last Friday after 27 years in power 鈥� quietly positioned the country as a key mediator of regional conflicts and, more recently, as a US and European counterterrorism partner.聽

Late last week,聽protestors stormed the Parliament in聽Ouagadougou and set it ablaze in an effort to halt legislation that would have extended Mr. Compaor茅's rule. Its new military rulers have promised to restore civilian control. And, while Ouagadougou is hardly a household name, Mr.聽Compaor茅's dramatic fall from power聽has gotten the world's attention.聽

鈥淚t may be surprising, but a country like Burkina Faso is on everyone鈥檚 plate,鈥� says David Zounmenou, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important diplomatically for a huge number of countries.鈥�

The central point of US military interest in Burkina Faso, an impoverished nation of 17 million, lies in a small聽base聽attached to Ouagadougou鈥檚 international airport. There, as part of a Pentagon operation codenamed Creek Sand, small manned spy planes carry out surveillance missions across the sandy expanses of northern Mali and Mauritania.聽Their targets are fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Islamist militant network based in Algeria known for several high-profile kidnappings of Westerners.

The US operation in Burkina Faso grew in strategic importance after a 2012 coup in neighboring Mali made the country a literal frontline in blocking the advance of jihadist militants.聽A 2013 counter-terrorism report from the State Department lauded Burkina Faso as 鈥渁 strong U.S. security and defense partner in the region,鈥� which 鈥渁ggressively undertook measures to combat the聽regional danger posed by terrorist聽organizations.鈥�

The Ouagadougou base 鈥� established in 2009 鈥� anchors a growing US spying network in west and central Africa. This includes聽a major drone base in neighboring聽Niger (with a second currently in the works), periodic spy flights from Mauritania, and a temporary operation set up in Chad to search for nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped by militants in northern Nigeria earlier this year, according to a series of reports by the Washington Post.

鈥淛ust look at Burkina Faso鈥檚 strategic position geographically 鈥� between al-Qaeda linked groups operating in countries to its north and Boko Haram operating in northern Nigeria,鈥� says Maja Bovcon, a senior West Africa analyst with the UK-based consulting firm Maplecroft. 鈥淚t wants to protect聽its territory from these extremist groups, and countries like the US want to use it as a base to fight those same groups, so it鈥檚 a win-win situation.鈥�

Mediator vs. provocateur

It's unclear what聽Compaor茅鈥檚 departure means for such cooperation, given his long tenure at the top,聽says Mr. Zounmenou.聽Indeed, Compaor茅鈥檚 shrewd charm at the negotiating table internationally聽and his suppression of political dissent聽at home yielded a stable country lauded by Western allies.聽

鈥淟ike in so many countries in Africa, the powers or the factors that should limit and balance out the power of the executive have not historically been very strong in Burkina Faso,鈥� says Corinne Dufka, associate director for West Africa at Human Rights Watch.

Over his decades in power, Compaor茅 played a hand in several high-profile conflicts in the region, alternating between mediator and provocateur. During the 1990s, he funneled arms and aid to rebels in the civil wars of Sierra Leone and Liberia. But in 2010, the UN Security Council lauded his role in mediating the peace process in Cote d鈥橧voire, although it later emerged he had previously smuggled arms to rebel leader Laurent Gbagbo.聽

As of聽Monday聽afternoon, Compaor茅 was in Cote d鈥橧voire again, this time as an exile, and聽Lt. Col. Isaac Zida was interim head of state. Protesters have continued to gather and to demand that the Army immediately relinquishes power.聽

鈥淲ill the next administration be able to cooperate internationally at the same level [as Compaor茅]? That鈥檚 the question for me,鈥� Zounmenou says. 鈥淭hat will be very dependent on the negotiations that will take place and how the next government is formed.鈥�