Mali’s military junta decided to make its military supporter Russia instead of France. Now it is facing a country-wide coordinated attack from terrorists and ethno-national rebels that the military was not ready for.
Mali is losing territory to Islamist and terrorist forces. Russia has forces there helping the government, but they are failing to prevent this. Mali’s government previously rejected Western help in favor of Russia.
For decades, Morocco has had a dispute over Western Sahara, where rebels demanded independence. Morocco has controlled all the valuable parts of the land, but the rebels had the desert and help from neighboring Algeria. Recently, Morocco has gained more and more international support for its claim, culminating in a UN Security Council vote in favor of its claims, with help from the United States.