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