Welcome to the ‘Mad Max’ World Order

As reported by numerous sources , a large shipment of uranium yellowcake concentrate—the raw material used in nuclear energy and weapons—is on the move from Niger’s Arlit mine complex amid a bitter dispute involving Orano, a primarily-French energy company which owned the majority of the mine, and Niger’s military government. The dispute began almost immediately after the junta took power in July 2023, and the mine was officially nationalized in June 2025. The junta framed this as a sovereignty and development imperative, and seized roughly 1,150 metric tons of uranium.

Niger’s junta is shipping uranium confiscated from a French mine in a massive armed convoy across the Sahel, and appears set to attempt to sell it abroad or send it to Russia. This “ Mad Max ” convoy, as it’s being called in French media, is a glaring example of an international system that is being rapidly rewired. A United States-led international order that prioritized rules and rule following is coming apart in real time. Scrambles to claim control over energy, minerals, shipping routes, and a willingness to ignore the prohibitions of the old order is the new norm. Routine instruments of statecraft for treaty violations, like sanctions, still exist but their enforcement is uneven. As great power alliances have become unpredictable, middle powers and even small states have become more willing to gamble on rule breaking, because penalties feel avoidable.

Niger’s junta is shipping uranium confiscated from a French mine in a massive armed convoy across the Sahel, and appears set to attempt to sell it abroad or send it to Russia. This “Mad Max” convoy, as it’s being called in French media, is a glaring example of an international system that is being rapidly rewired. A United States-led international order that prioritized rules and rule following is coming apart in real time. Scrambles to claim control over energy, minerals, shipping routes, and a willingness to ignore the prohibitions of the old order is the new norm. Routine instruments of statecraft for treaty violations, like sanctions, still exist but their enforcement is uneven.