Menu

United States Institute of Peace

Search

Home ▶ Events

Countering Coups in the Greater Sahel

Steps to Reverse Military Rule and Revitalize Democracy in the Region

Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 / Time: 10:00am - 11:30am EST

Center: Africa Center

Read the event coverage
Share This
Print the Page

Eight military coup attempts across the greater Sahel — five of them successful — have made this African region the epicenter of a global crisis: military putsches in countries struggling with poor governance, extremism, violence and related ills. Military rule only heightens threats to stability and peace for the Sahel’s 135 million people — increasing the costs of human displacement, already at a record high, as well as deepening the risk of malicious involvement by outside authoritarian powers.

English

French

On February 23, USIP held a discussion with experts from across the foreign policy community on ways to counter this trend toward authoritarianism and make U.S. and international support for democracy more effective. Building on USIP’s two-day forum on The Shocking Rise in Coups, this conversation explored concrete steps to advance the goals of the 2021 Summit for Democracy and offer forward-looking policy recommendations. 

The forum will be livestreamed in English and French. Join the conversation on Twitter with #CounteringCoups.

Speakers

Joseph Sany, opening remarks
Vice President, Africa Center, U.S. Institute of Peace

Mvemba Dizolele
Senior Fellow and Director, Africa Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Cameron Hudson 
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Joshua Meservey
Senior Policy Analyst, Africa and the Middle East, The Heritage Foundation

Joseph Siegle
Director of Research, Africa Center of Strategic Studies

Ambassador Kamissa Camara, moderator
Senior Visiting Expert for the Sahel, Africa Center, U.S. Institute of Peace

 

Related Publications

Another Coup in the Sahel: Here’s a Way to Halt This Cycle

Another Coup in the Sahel: Here’s a Way to Halt This Cycle

Thursday, October 20, 2022

By: Sandrine Nama;  Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

This month’s coup d’etat in Burkina Faso, the seventh in 26 months around the Sahel region, only extends the Sahel’s long agonies of failing governance, civil wars and violent extremism. Military-led intervention by France and other outside powers has failed to stem the widening destabilization of a landmass and population vastly bigger than those of the recent U.S. wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. U.S. and international security require a policy reset that addresses the Sahel crisis’ causes rather than its symptoms. In Burkina Faso and other states, this means supporting inclusive processes of national dialogue that can mobilize whole of the society to address those causes.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Civilian-Military Relations;  Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

A Sixth Coup in Africa? The West Needs to Up Its Game.

A Sixth Coup in Africa? The West Needs to Up Its Game.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

By: Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

The government of Guinea-Bissau says it survived an attempted coup d’état yesterday, just days after Burkina Faso suffered the fifth coup in nine months around the greater Sahel. These upheavals cement this African region as the most pronounced center of a global crisis: Poor and authoritarian governance is breeding extremism and transnational criminality, igniting violence and undermining efforts to build democracies. Following last year’s military power grabs in Chad, Mali, Guinea and Sudan, the new crises highlight widening risks to security — for the 135 million people of the Sahel region, and ultimately for Europe and the United States. They also point to changes needed in U.S. and international policies.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Democracy & Governance

Une ville du Sahel conçoit un moyen d'améliorer les réformes – et l'aide internationale

Une ville du Sahel conçoit un moyen d'améliorer les réformes – et l'aide internationale

Friday, October 15, 2021

By: Jasmine Dehghan ;  Sandrine Nama

La recrudescence cette année des troubles violents dans le Sahel en Afrique – des attaques djihadistes élargies, des coups d'État ou des tentatives militaires dans quatre pays, ainsi que le nombre constamment élevé de victimes civiles – souligne que des années de travail pour renforcer les forces militaires et policières n'ont pas réussi à réduire l'instabilité. Pour réduire l'extrémisme et la violence, les pays doivent améliorer la gouvernance, et des analyses récentes soulignent le besoin particulier de renforcer le sentiment des gens que leurs gouvernements peuvent assurer la justice et trouver des résolutions équitables aux griefs populaires. Un tel changement est une tâche extrêmement complexe et une ville du Burkina Faso a élaboré un plan de réformes locales avec un processus pour gérer cette complexité.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue;  Democracy & Governance

View All Publications