From a relatively terrorism immune state, Burkina Faso’s vast breadth of porous and under-governed land has degenerated to one of the world’s terrorism most-threatened country since the third decade of the twenty-first century. Its compromised geostrategic location interacts with the dynamics of national politics within the country to exacerbate a continuing struggle against terrorism and radical extremism. The consequences of this conflict extend beyond the destruction of people and property to include the disruption of democracy itself within Burkina Faso and the external relations of Ouagadougou. The consequence is the mass support for unconstitutional change of government by the country’s military and new foreign policy orientations away from its traditional partners like the Government of France and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in preference for increased Russian presence and the establishment of the Alliance of the Sahel States. Leveraging on the analysis of extant primary and secondary documents, the challenge of combating terrorism in Burkina Faso requires the whole-of-government and whole-of-society engagement in partnership with the wider world.