Republic of Chad

Executive Profile (BLUF)

Chad is a landlocked central Sahelian state of outsized geostrategic importance as the last functioning French security partner in the Sahel bloc, host to the headquarters of Operation Barkhane (now Operation Épervier successor) and France’s largest sub-Saharan African military base (N’Djamena). Under President Mahamat Idriss Déby — who assumed power after his father’s death in 2021 and won a contested 2024 election — Chad faces simultaneous pressures from Sahelian jihadist spillover (JNIM, Boko Haram successor factions), Sudanese civil war refugee influx across its eastern border, and Libyan instability to the north. Its stability is critical for French and US counter-terrorism operations in the central Sahel.

Key Relationships

• France — sole surviving major French military partnership in the Sahel bloc; Épervier/successor base in N’Djamena
• DGSE — deep French intelligence presence; Déby family historically dependent on French backing
• Sudan — civil war generating massive refugee crisis across Chad’s eastern border
• Libya — northern border instability; arms flows; Wagner Group/Africa Corps presence in Libya
• Nigeria — coordination on Boko Haram/ISWAP (Lake Chad Basin Commission)
• JNIM | Al-Qaeda — jihadist spillover from Mali/Niger into western Chad
• United States — smaller but sustained counterterrorism partnership