The landlocked African nation of Niger, a US ally, saw its democratic government overthrown by a military coup last week. Could it be a coincidence that the coup came at the same time as the Africa-Russia Summit in St Petersburg, which Niger’s elected president skipped? In Ep 1282 of Cut The Clutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta explains why remote Niger matters, its uranium reserves, the West-Russia tug-of-war, and Africa as the new geopolitical playground.