WAF chart, page-279

"If local leaders were so worried about Russia leaving wouldn't they turn to the like of the French for protection rather than lecture them?"

To date their ability to implement their own national security plan has been a total failure , the French came to help and were told to leave and now You are assuming these "local leaders" have an ability to rationalise what is best for them for the future ?

Do you see a problem with your rhetorical question based on the past performance in BF?
Up until recently I had hope for BF being able to collaborate with legit outside security entities , but that hope has dissipated

I have seen the same situation unfold in the Philippines over 40 years , on a local level there , like BF there was an assumption that the foreign interests (Georgia Pacific ) were sucking the locals dry with logging , exacerbated by the protests put on by NGOs and Catholic church , when in fact the American firms were educating the locals and providing employment, now the place is a sheet hole , education is nearly non existent, the local sheriff was shot dead by the "freedom fighters" and they are logging the forests indiscriminately and the locals are fighting each other as in BF , no one will invest in that particular island in the Philippines .

Rant over - goldies in Australia offer better long term value so I am selling down more