On September 14, The Washington Post revealed that the United States has quietly opened talks focused on counterterrorism with Mali’s governing junta. Last month, House and Senate delegations visited Bamako. In July, Deputy Assistant Secretary Will Stevens, the State Department’s point man for West Africa, also met Malian officials. A few months earlier, between February 19 and 21, United States Africa Command – the Pentagon’s headquarters for operations across the continent – had staged its first military-to-military engagement in Mali in five years.

These apparent efforts by Washington to woo Mali’s military regime mark a US return to a game where African lives are pawns and power is the prize. Sure, “security” is the buzzword on everyone’s lips, but to anyone paying attention, it is obvious that the newfound US interest in collaborating with Bamako is less about “counterterrorism” and more about gaining ground in its new Cold War against Russia.

Indeed, five years ago, when General Assimi Goita, leader of the Malian junta, carried out two coups in the space of nine months, the US showed no inclination to collaborate with him, even in the name of fighting terror. In fact, Washington strongly condemned the general’s power grab both times, and even suspended security assistance to the country after the second coup that toppled the transitional authority tasked with overseeing Mali’s return to civilian rule.

Since then, Goita’s regime has shown no desire for democratic governance or respect for the rights and freedoms of everyday Malians. In fact, just a couple of months ago, Mali’s military authorities officially granted Goita a five-year presidential mandate, renewable “as many times as necessary” and without requiring an election.

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Despite all this, Washington is now openly courting the regime – clearly not because Goita has changed, but because the situation has.

For a long time, Mali has been under French, and thus Western, influence. In 2013, France even deployed troops there to fight against “a jihadist insurgency” and protect Western interests while doing so. In February 2022, however, the junta successfully pressured Paris to pull out.

Mali’s leadership tried to sell the French exit as an anti-colonial victory, but it was anything but. As one empire left, another quickly moved in. Russian mercenaries replaced French soldiers, announcing to the world Mali’s intention to move into Russia’s orbit.

Americans watched with worry, and eventually started to use the “counterterrorism” angle to try and befriend a regime they loudly condemned and sanctioned just a few years ago.

For the Malian people, the country’s transfer to team Russia brought no real positives. Sure, the humiliation of France at the heart of Francophone Africa was rejoiced over by some, but the Russians brought with them nothing but more aggression, corruption and chaos.

Indeed, the Russians have been accused of grave abuses in Mali since the beginning of their collaboration with the regime. Malian forces accompanied by Russian military and security personnel recruited by the Wagner Group have been accused of arbitrarily executing at least 10 people – including a two-year-old boy – during a security operation in January in northern Mali. In April, dozens of dead bodies, believed to belong to Fulani men arrested and interrogated by Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries, were found near the Kwala military camp in the west of the country, according to human rights monitors.

Russia’s resource exploitation in the country is also in full swing. Russian-linked firms are expanding their influence in Mali’s lucrative gold sector, building refineries and enjoying concessions, while showing very little of their spoils to the Malian people.

As the Russians enjoy their newfound influence, Americans appear to be looking for a way back in. They are now courting the regime under the guise of addressing “terror” but clearly with the sole intent of weakening the Russian hand.

In short, Mali has transformed into another battleground in the second Cold War between Russia and the US, and neither party cares at all about the wellbeing of Malians who have found themselves on the front line.

Tragically, their leaders are dressing this entire catastrophe as an anti-colonial victory, refusing to acknowledge that they “kicked out” one empire only to replace it with another.

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And this is not happening only in Mali.

In Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore casts himself as the face of Africa’s anti-colonial revolt. He rails against “French exploitation” and speaks of pan-African unity. Nevertheless, his government has deepened ties with Russia, swapping French tutelage for Moscow’s – from trade concessions to defence pacts – a conspicuous replica of the grip he claims to resist.

In this fantastical theatre, liberation is the language, but the result is imperial control. Russian proxies spread propaganda on social media to elevate Traore, normalise military rule and enable foreign interference.

A similar scenario is playing out in Niger, where the military regime is lauding itself for standing up to Western colonial exploitation, while welcoming equally destructive Russian imperialism with open arms and wide smiles.

Indeed, across the Sahel, juntas invoke anti-colonial bravado while quietly binding their nations to Moscow’s orbit. On September 22, for example, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). They denounced it as Western neocolonialism, aligning themselves with Moscow at a time when President Vladimir Putin is wanted by the ICC for committing war crimes in Ukraine. This move does not only serve Moscow’s interests but also undermines justice for Africans themselves – including victims in Darfur, the Central African Republic and elsewhere – who depend on the ICC to pursue accountability. They reject global justice – desperately needed in Africa – to protect their political thuggery and cosy up to Putin while applauding themselves for their supposed anti-colonial resistance.

This is, of course, not to say the Western Empire – which has been singlehandedly responsible for much of African suffering, loss and devastation for many centuries – is a preferable ally, truly invested in bringing democracy, security and prosperity to the continent.

Europe and America’s support for many “friendly” dictators across Africa, such as Uganda’s Museveni, and Washington’s ongoing attempts to befriend Mali’s junta despite its insults to democracy, clearly show Africans have no true ally in this proxy war being waged on their lands.

Africa bleeds.

More than 30 years after the Cold War supposedly ended, Africa is back on the front line of a renewed scramble for its power, resources and future.

Washington and Moscow fixate on “security,” but their real focus is gold, uranium, rare minerals and geopolitical leverage.

It is ordinary Africans who are once again sacrificed, with their blood and resources fuelling someone else’s dominion.

Empire has returned.

Africa must not submit. It must resist – not by choosing between Moscow and Washington, but by reclaiming its agency, defending its sovereignty, and refusing to let yet another century be written in the language of empires.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.