It reads like the blockbuster you pick up at the airport. A convoy of trucks laden with 1000 tonnes of uranium seized from a mine in Niger is trying to make its way to an Atlantic port so it can be shipped to a mystery buyer, possibly Russia.
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The options are limited for landlocked Niger. The safest route would be through neighbouring Benin but that country has been at loggerheads with Niger since Niger's military seized power in 2023 and was implicated in a failed Beninois coup last December.
The other option involves running the gauntlet of bandits and jihadist insurgents in Burkina Faso, with the prospect of the yellowcake falling into the hands of a group affiliated with Al Qaeda.
Unthinkable? Yes. Fiction? No.
The French call it the Mad Max convoy. They've taken a deep interest because the mine involved used to be owned by a French company but was nationalised last June by Niger's military junta. The rest of the world ought to take notice as well because it's another dimension to the breakdown of the rules-based order, where international agreements and protocols governing the sale and shipment of uranium are no longer observed. Foreign Policy magazine calls this new normal the "Mad Max World Order".
For years, our attention has been focused on the actions of the major powers which have frayed the fabric of the rules based world order: China, Russia and lately the US.
But the unfolding drama in West Africa demonstrates that it's not only the big players dispensing with the rule book. Much smaller and inherently more unstable players like Niger are doing it too, peddling a dangerous resource on the open market and taking huge risks to get it to the buyer.
The Sahel region of Africa has been the centre of what's been dubbed the "coup belt" after a string of military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Niger, Sudan and Gabon. Running parallel to the coups, a jihadist insurgency has also fuelled instability and a flight of foreign investment.
The Mad Max analogy is perfect. A hostile desert setting, heavily armed rival factions, a highly valuable contraband and a journey fraught with danger. A rollicking adventure. George Miller's already written the script but in this real version there are no heroes. Just a junta desperate to claim legitimacy and sovereignty over its country's resources and willing to flout the rules and destabilise a neighbour to do so.
Sounds familiar? That's because it is. When the major powers behave appallingly, they set the tone for everyone else. China engages in risky confrontations in international waters. Russia evades sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine with a shadow fleet of tankers - running a Mad Max gauntlet at sea. The US abducts the leader of a sovereign country and takes over its oil assets then threatens to seize Greenland before backing down. Hardly a template for good conduct.
Niger's trafficking in yellowcake is sadly normal in these abnormal times.
HAVE YOUR SAY: What kind of world will our children face if the rules-based order continues to be dismantled? Do you fear for the future? Do we pay enough attention to Africa? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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THEY SAID IT: "Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent. Violence appears where power is in jeopardy, but left to its own course it ends in power's disappearance." - Hannah Arendt
YOU SAID IT: If our politics resembles TV shows, Garry presents the ultimate viewing guide.
"What an excellent summary of the Canberra circus," writes Arthur. "The biggest problem is that the clowns do not realise that their acts would be hilarious if they were not so tragic."
Lesly writes: "I have a further suggestion for a TV show, prompted by a recent struggle to get a doctor's appointment in Mudgee, where I live. It is called 'The Waiting Game'. A large group of sick, injured and melancholy patients queue for nearly an hour each morning outside their medical practice, hoping to get one of just a few medical appointments that are released each day. When the gates are unlocked at 8.30am, there is a stampede towards the front door and in the process, the elderly, and mothers with babies in their arms are bowled over, causing more injuries. The reason for the crush, is that the medical practice has had to close its books, due to a lack of doctors in regional areas, and unless they line up each morning, they will need to wait at least a month for a regular appointment."
"Ultimately government is boring. It needs to be boring. It's management of serious affairs that affect us all in terms of finance and security and environment and long term sustainability of our way of life," writes Phil. "The policies that drive these affairs are also incredibly boring. The hoo-ha and frivolity of party bickering is irrelevant in the long term. In the end it's policies that matter. We watch the drama kings and queens and see them for what they are. TV characters that are too ugly for real TV. Poor scripts, badly acted and directed with less skill than a kindergarten play. But the media keep broadcasting them and we keep shaking our heads and tuning out."
Sue writes: "Thank you, Garry. You started my day with a good laugh. I am not sure which of your offerings was my favourite, but your programming would be almost enough to encourage me to watch television again. Must ask: how much of The Bold and the Beautiful is scheduled for ads?"
