In the wee hours of the morning, a group of men dressed in military uniform appear on state television and claim to have seized power from a president whose family has controlled the country for decades. It's a scene that played out most recently in Gabon in August but has become all too familiar in this part of Africa, a vast region known as the "coup belt" with a continuous chain of military rulers stretching from coast to coast. There have been at least a dozen coup d'états in West and Central Africa since 2020, with eight proving successful while the others either failed or spiraled into conflict.
Africa at a crossroads as more democracies fall to military coups, experts say go.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from go.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This past week’s military takeover in Niger completed a domino chain of countries ruled by leaders who seized power by force, fueling instability and presenting a conundrum for the United States.
The Complex Effects of Counterterrorism Policies on Mediation Efforts
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by Issaka K. Souaré
Bringing together non-state armed groups and governments to participate in peace processes has become a familiar characteristic of 21st-century mediation. However, after 9/11, several countries adopted strict counterterrorism policies. As a result, many non-state armed groups were given the label terrorist group by the same governments they were meant to negotiate with. The complex effects of this have impeded mediation efforts, impacted conflict dynamics, and created challenges to forging peace.
Afghanistan is a prime example. After the 9/11 attacks in the US, the American intervention there was in large part premised on the assumption that the Taliban, then rulers of the country, played an important role in the attacks. The group was proscribed by the United States and became a legitimate target for military operations. Under American influence, even the United Nations Security C