U.S. struggles for influence in West Africa as military juntas rise

NIAMEY, Niger — U.S. officials are waging urgent diplomatic efforts in West Africa, searching during public tours and private meetings for ways to partner with military governments in a region where violence wrought by Islamist extremists is soaring and Russia’s influence is expanding.

But the officials have struggled at times to articulate what that partnership would look like, especially because the types of assistance the U.S. government can legally provide have been curtailed since the ousting of democratically elected governments by soldiers in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, according to interviews with a dozen current and former U.S. officials, analysts and activists.