The small size of its defence force, ineffective coordination among security services, budget shortfall, and instability in Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, and the Lake Chad Basin, Niger's efforts to fight terrorism were hampered.
Victoria Nuland was allowed to meet only the new military chief of staff Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou, not the new leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani or the deposed President Bazoum.