How much did rain this month make up for a dry August?

With Russia on the ebb, who steps in? Where are the opportunities to help meet both the objectives of African states with their own agency and powers like the United States and Europe? And how do those powers avoid repeating the mistakes Russia and many others before them have made?

5. Assad fell. Russia suddenly found itself without a critical logistical node on the way to supporting deployments in Africa. All of a sudden, overflying and operating in Syria was much more costly - other options even more so.

4. Ukraine continued to resist domination. As Russia continued/s to fail in its goals in Ukraine, it was forced to prioritize. Africa was never the priority.

3. Adversaries adapted. Ukraine began to target Wagner in Sudan and Libya. JNIM in Mali dealt major defeats to Russian forces through 2025. This punctured the myth of Russian invincibility and raised the political cost of spending tens of millions on a fighting force now shown to be ineffective.

2. Russia "lost" a major innovator in Yevgeniy Prigizhin. He established a logistical, financial, and tech network that styled Wagner and Russia as that savior. For a time, he seemed able to deliver. Wagner's successors were never able to pick up the slack after he fell from that very high window.

1. Russian power in Africa never truly was. Russia portrayed itself as a savior for Africa. Despite being a colonizing power itself, it laid claim to pan-Africanist, anti-colonial ideals and to having the cure to the continent's security ills. Russia was a meme, a myth, a mirage. It fooled us, too.

This @wsj.com article by Benoit Faucon and Nicholas Bariyo is absolutely right. Russian influence has fizzled. But how exactly did it go from spawning hundreds of breathless think pieces to a lonely (albeit superbly written) obituary?

That sounds great.

Same! I had no idea it was Doctor Who Day. Any accounts I should follow to share in the joy and fandom?

Hi Harry! Mission accomplished. Even took a nap.

What is the beverage?

WaPo, "Is this trenchant?"

I am glad to follow you, as this sent me on a nostalgia-fueled rabbit hole. (For reference, I played pogs - poorly - as a kid) I now know pogs not only were currency for our troops, but also that POG was originally an acronym for Passion fruit, Orange, and Guava juice.

Yeah...

His position (and all at NSC) isn't Senate-confirmed.