on traditional metrics of international affairs, russia is not a major player in africa, does not have major economic ties to the region, not a major aid player, not a lot of trade links. but what they ve been able to do with these nimble and light forces, they ve been able to magnify their presence with effect by elite cooptions by making themselves indispensable to these non-democratic players and expanding russia s influence in these countries. it s nimble but it has proven to be very effective. and is it always in opposition to western strategy? at the end of the day, russia surely has an interest in not having terrorism just like the west. i don t think they necessarily go in to intentionally put a stick in the eye of the west but i think they re there with their own goals. it s expanding russia s influence in the continent, it s projecting great power and looking to get access to
the kremlin is very opportunistic like they see in like in mali now, they send in these forces as a kind of wedge and from there expand therapy footprint. on traditional metrics of international affairs, russia is not a major player in africa, does not have major economic ties to the region, not a major aid player, not a lot of trade links. but what they ve been able to do with these nimble and light forces, they ve been able to magnify their presence by elite cooperation by making themselves indispensable to these non-democratic players and expanding russia s influence in these countries. it s nimble but it has proven to be very effective. and is it always in opposition to western strategy? at the end of the day, russia surely has an interest in not having terrorism just like the west. i don t think they necessarily go in to
states for their mission in order to contain and push back against these terrorist advances. we also have drawn up a german we ve also agreed on a german-american dialogue between our business communities because we have considerable trade links and we wish to build on this, and obviously, the economy, economic ties of prime importance so it was a very, very good exchange. we re close partners. i would like this to remain even after i ve left office wand this visit we ve probably paved the way to make it possible to also create formats where we can exchange because the world will continue to be a place that is full of challenges so thank you very much for making it possible for us to tackle those together. thank you. thank you very much. we re each going to take two questions and i m going to begin by recognizing steve portnoy and
europe. we are very grateful to the united states for their mission in order to contain and push back against these terrorist advances. we also have drawn up a german we have also agreed on a german/american dialogue between our business communities, because we have considerable trade links and we wish to build on this, and, obviously, an economy is of prime importance. it was a very good exchange. we are close partners. i would like this to remain even after i have left office, and i think with this visit we have probably paved the way to make it possible to also create formats where we can exchange, because the world will continue to be a place that is full of challenges. so thank you very much for making it possible for us to tackle those together. thank you. thank you very much. we re each going to take two questions, and i m going to begin by recognizing steve