Rewind and Reconnoiter: Niger and the Risk Versus Reward of Remote Operations with Brian Petit

In 2017, Brian Petit wrote “Playing Zone Defense: Niger and the Risk Versus Reward of Remote Operations” for War on the Rocks, in which he argues for a “zone defense” in Niger that involves a small, persistent U.S. special operations presence to support counterterrorism operations in the country. Seven years later, in response to the 2023 coup in Niger and the junta’s recent revocation of the status of forces agreement with the United States, we asked him to look back on his article. Read more below. In your article “Playing Zone Defense: Niger and the Risk versus Reward of Remote