Despite boasting one of the highest GDPs per capita in Africa, nearly two in five Gabonese live in poverty. That inequality — combined with decades of monolithic rule under the Bongo family — were contributing factors to Gabon’s military coup last August. USIP spoke with Charles M'bah, Gabon’s minister of public accounts, about what the people of Gabon expect from the current political transition and how the international community can help bolster Gabon’s democratic and economic development.
On August 30, just hours after Gabon’s election commission announced that President Ali Bongo Ondimba had been elected to a third term, a group of Gabonese military officers from the elite presidential guard unit seized power and placed the president under arrest at his palace. Later that day, the officers declared General Brice Oligui Nguema as chairman of the transition. While the election itself had been marred by reports of irregularities, the officers’ coup marks the latest in a long line of recent military takeovers across the African continent that have jeopardized regional stability and security.
The elections this year in the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and even the United States, demonstrate how high-stakes elections frequently trigger anxiety, tension or even violence or the threat of unrest. Properly managed elections allow opposing groups to press their claim to power through a peaceful process. But in fragile democracies, elections frequently feature intimidation or violent protest. U.S. Institute of Peace Senior Program Officer Jonas Claes, editor o...
On March 8, the United States allowed a waiver to expire that had permitted Iraq to buy Iranian electricity. The move was the latest in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign to cut off Iran’s revenue streams and push Tehran to negotiate over its controversial nuclear program. The waiver dates back to President Trump’s first term. In 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which had granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear program and expanding cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Once seen as a promising democracy in West Africa, Guinea has been mired in political turmoil in recent years — especially in the wake of the country’s 2021 military coup. After initially promising a smooth transition to democracy, the ruling junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya has repeatedly postponed key milestones, cracked down on opposition, restricted media and committed a number of human rights violations.