This book investigates the efficacy and geopolitical consequences of international security force assistance (SFA) interventions within the Sahel region between 2012 and 2024. Nina Wilén, a scholar specializing in international security and military interventions, utilizes her unique access to both European strategy-making circles and on-the-ground military operations to evaluate these programs. By synthesizing qualitative data from extensive fieldwork, the author argues that external security interventions often produce unintended outcomes that complicate local security dynamics and intensify regional geopolitical competition.

Experts highlight this work as a critical contribution to the study of contemporary security interventions, noting the author's rare access to both European capitals and Sahelian operational theaters. Readers frequently observe that the text provides a rigorous, evidence-based critique of international military assistance programs that is essential for understanding current geopolitical tensions in Africa.