Resurgence of coups in West Africa and Sahel Alliance implications

Abstract

The paper, titled "Resurgence of Military Coups in the West African Sub-region and the Implications of the Emergence of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)," focuses on the military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2020 and 2023. These coups present disturbing political events that raise serious concern for the political stability in the junta States and the region as well. Most importantly, it threatens the future of democratic governance in the West African Sub-region. The aftermath of sanctions on Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger by Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and the threat of military intervention amongst other factors gave impetus to the formation of the contending bloc; Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in the region thus leading to fragmentation of the union of ECOWAS, divisive politics, regional economic sabotage by AES member States amongst other unfolding implications. The paper addresses this issue by setting two objectives for the study: to identify the factors responsible for recent coups and to examine the implications of the AES on ECOWAS. The State fragility theory was adopted as a framework for the study. The research is qualitative, and as such, the historical research design was adopted. Findings reveal that though the AES is founded on grounds of addressing rising insecurity amongst its members, the bloc also serves as a tool for legitimizing these junta governments. Also, existing regional cooperative security frameworks and trade liberalization are threatened. The paper recommends that a sincere and committed focus on enhancing democracy and, by extension, the promotion of good governance should be encouraged by the ruling elite, adopt a systemic approach to curtail rising insecurity in the region by ECOWAS to facilitate trade and investment, while continued use of diplomacy should be used to woo back estranged members.