Let me paint you a picture that won't make the cover of National Geographic. Russian soldiers nicknamed Wagner 2.0 roll into Malian villages wearing sunglasses paid for with oil money. They slice off heads like it's pumpkin carving season. They torch homes that took generations to build. And our State Department responds by sending strongly worded emails to interns about diversity training requirements. This, my friends, is what happens when global leadership gets downgraded to a participation trophy.

I tried explaining this chaos to my cousin during Thanksgiving. Between his third plate of candied yams, he goes 'Mali? Is that near Bali?' We both laughed, but the joke curdled faster than eggnog in the sun. Russia is expanding an African empire using tactics straight from Genghis Khan's playbook, and our biggest geopolitical flex is banning plastic straws. Somewhere, Putin is sipping champagne from a golden goblet, laughing at our weakness.

Flashback to 2019. Remember Trump greenlighting that strike on Baghdadi? Me neither. At least until yesterday when I found myself knee deep in old Twitter archives. While Twitter deleted the receipts, the strategic clarity remains, Aligned adversaries knew crossing certain lines meant facing real consequences. Today? Watch how Russian Africa Corps operates with zero fear of American pushback. They called Biden’s bluff, Turns out his cards were UN resolutions and stern lectures.

Here’s where it gets personal. During journalism school in 2017, a professor showed us satellite images of Russian artillery in Syria. He whispered, 'This is what happens when superpowers abandon their posts.' Fast forward to these new Mali atrocity photos, The artillery looks suspiciously familiar. The only difference, Twitter cares less since Jack Dorsey left. Disastrous consistency.

None of this surprises anyone who survived the Obama administration’s foreign policy whiplash. Remember 2014, When his red line in Syria got erased like a Biden gaffe on autocue? Those chickens came home to roost in hundreds of mass graves. Now those same graves get dug in Africa, with better Russian PR. This is diplomacy downgraded to Instagram activism, All hashtags and heart reacts, zero ammunition or strategic alliances.

What chaps my hide worse than cheap denim, Witnesses describe seeing girls as young as fourteen dragged into Russian camps for 'interrogation.' Everyone reading this knows what that really means. Our VP just released another video about menstrual equity. I’m not saying tampons aren’t important, But perhaps prioritize stopping monsters before we solve period poverty in nations being destroyed?

Real talk, The hypocrisy is thicker than Nancy Pelosi’s foundation. Europe loses their minds over Polish judicial reforms but funds Mali’s junta through EU aid loopholes. Macron throws fits about Niger’s uranium deals with Moscow while France buys Russian gas through Cyprus shell companies. America lectures Africans on democracy while appointing a climate czar who flies private jets to sustainability conferences. My college barista could spot these double standards, And she thought NATO was a rapper.

This hits home. Last summer, I volunteered mapping Russian disinformation networks in West Africa. Farmers showed me mobile videos of executions set to Afrobeats tracks, Weaponized social media spreading fear faster than locust swarms. When I asked State Department contacts about counterprogramming support, they suggested diversity pledge pamphlets translated into Bambara. Groundbreaking.

Solution time, Not that anyone asked but democracy dies in silence or whatever. First, close every Africom Twitter account doing Tupac quotes and start arming vetted anti Wagner militias. Second, sanction European banks laundering Russian gold from Sudanese mines. No more meaningless asset freezes. Third, reroute that 100 million for gender studies in Pakistan toward Malian refugee camps. Babies don't starve more politely with DEI consultants.

But honestly, y'all, American foreign policy needs an exorcism. Can we please stop treating military deterrence like a bad Tinder date? Weakness invites aggression. Always has, Always will. Watch China escalate South China Sea drills this week, testing the Biden doctrine of strategic ambiguity. Spoiler, Blinking counts as diplomacy now.

A closing confession. Last week a think tank invited me to discuss 'soft power alternatives in Sahelian contexts.' I RSVP'd yes thinking there'd be free wine. Two hours later, I’m surrounded by experts debating whether traditional African fabric patterns could psychologically counter extremism. Meanwhile, Russian mercenaries swapped fashion advice and beheaded a village elder. The choice is stark, Either lead or keep pretending Tik Tok bans count as geostrategy.