Relationship dossier
Mauritania
United States
Relationship assessment
Moderate cooperation in security and development, alongside past political friction and human-rights concerns.
Mauritania toward United States
+35Mauritania has cooperated with the United States on counterterrorism and participated in U.S.-supported military exercises, including regional exercises involving U.S. forces.
United States toward Mauritania
+35The United States has provided Mauritania with security and development assistance and cooperated with it on counterterrorism. It suspended some assistance after Mauritania’s 2008 coup, with cooperation resuming after the 2009 political transition; U.S. policy has also raised human-rights concerns.
Overall relationship
+35Security and development cooperation provide a durable basis for engagement, while the U.S. response to the 2008 coup and continuing human-rights concerns have introduced political friction. The relationship is cooperative but not a close strategic partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Mauritania and the United States have a moderately cooperative relationship, particularly in security and development. Mauritania has participated in U.S.-supported counterterrorism cooperation and military exercises, while the United States has provided security and development assistance. Relations faced friction after Mauritania’s 2008 coup, when the United States suspended some assistance; cooperation resumed following the 2009 political transition. Human-rights concerns remain a source of U.S. criticism.
Areas of tension
- The 2008 coup in Mauritania prompted the United States to suspend some assistance.
- U.S. concerns about human rights in Mauritania, including slavery and trafficking, have complicated relations.
Key developments
Following Mauritania’s 2008 coup, the United States suspended some assistance; cooperation resumed after the 2009 political transition.
Mauritania participated in U.S.-supported counterterrorism cooperation and military exercises.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of current security and development cooperation are unclear.
- The extent to which human-rights concerns affect present bilateral policy is unclear.