In sub-Saharan Africa, Russia will continue to capitalize on anti-French sentiment and political instability by launching disinformation campaigns designed to increase its influence across the region. Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Sudan -- and, most recently, Gabon and Niger -- are among the African countries that have experienced military coups over the past two and a half years, fueling fears of a growing ''coup contagion'' across sub-Saharan Africa. Of the three Sahelian countries on this list (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), the coup leaders leveraged anger toward French political and military activity in the region to justify their political takeover (among other reasons) and took steps to suspend French media sites -- like Radio France International and France 24 -- from operating within their borders, thereby cutting off credible French news sites. Amid the consequent information vacuum, Russian-aligned threat actors were able to quickly and effectively launch disinformation campaigns that...
