Another Coup in West Africa: The Burkina Faso Military Seizes Power
Hold Your Fire!28 Jan 2022

Another Coup in West Africa: The Burkina Faso Military Seizes Power

Burkina Faso is the latest in a string of African states to fall victim to a military coup. Late January saw Burkinabé soldiers oust President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, dissolve the government and suspend the country's constitution. Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, the coup leader, has promised to address burgeoning violence across much of Burkina’s countryside. Fighting between jihadist militants and the army, together with state-backed militias, has over the past few years killed thousands and displaced 1.5 million people. Many Burkinabé, frustrated at the government’s inability to curb violence, took to the streets in celebration at the military’s power grab. The Burkina coup is the fifth in Africa over the past year, part of a worrying uptick in military takeovers on the continent.


This week on Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood is joined by Rinaldo Depagne, Crisis Group’s deputy Africa director and an expert on Burkina Faso, to talk about the coup and its ramifications. They discuss the instability across parts of Burkina that fuelled anger within the population and military, paving the way for the coup. They talk about what Damiba and the military will do next, how his power grab might impact the country’s struggles against Islamist militancy and how it might shape politics in West Africa and the Sahel more broadly. They look at the Burkina coup alongside other military takeovers on the continent and discuss what is driving more frequent coups and the dilemmas the trend poses regional organisations, Western powers and the UN.


For more information, explore Crisis Group’s analysis on our Sahel regional page and keep an eye out for an upcoming Q&A.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(223)

Cameroon's Forgotten Anglophone Conflict

Cameroon's Forgotten Anglophone Conflict

For almost five years, Cameroon’s western provinces have been wracked by a deadly separatist insurgency. In 2016, Anglophone protesters took to the streets angry at the increasing use of French in cou...

15 Okt 202144min

Lebanon is Falling Apart

Lebanon is Falling Apart

Lebanon is in the midst of what the World Bank describes as what could be one of the worst economic crises of the past 150 years. Over three-quarters of the population have been plunged into poverty, ...

8 Okt 202141min

Could Talking to Mali's Jihadists Bring Peace?

Could Talking to Mali's Jihadists Bring Peace?

The war in the Sahel appears to have reached a stalemate. In Mali, fighting pits the Malian security forces, backed by regional militaries and French special forces and airpower, against an al-Qaeda-l...

1 Okt 202151min

Avoiding Another Afghanistan: Could Al-Shabaab Seize Power in Somalia?

Avoiding Another Afghanistan: Could Al-Shabaab Seize Power in Somalia?

Many people in the Somali capital Mogadishu watched with apprehension as the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. Could Somalia, struggling against its own Islamist insurgency -- Al—Shabaab -- face ...

24 Sep 202143min

License to Kill: Lawyering in the War on Terror

License to Kill: Lawyering in the War on Terror

Only days after the 9/11 attacks, Congress ushered in extraordinarily broad legislation that authorised President Bush to use military force in order to eliminate terrorist threats to the U.S. In this...

16 Sep 20211h 11min

Al-Qaeda and ISIS Twenty Years after 9/11

Al-Qaeda and ISIS Twenty Years after 9/11

On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a new episode of Hold Your Fire! looks at the shadow cast by the “global war on terror” across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Rich...

10 Sep 202142min

Afghanistan: the Islamic State, still no Taliban government and a looming humanitarian catastrophe

Afghanistan: the Islamic State, still no Taliban government and a looming humanitarian catastrophe

After days of chaos at Kabul airport, including an attack by the Islamic State’s local chapter, the last American plane has left, ending the Americans’ twenty-year war against the Taliban. As yet, the...

3 Sep 202147min

Special Episode: What Will the Taliban Do Next?

Special Episode: What Will the Taliban Do Next?

The Taliban is back in power in Afghanistan. A few days ago, insurgents entered the Afghan capital Kabul, topping off a week in which they had swept through cities and towns across the country. Back f...

19 Aug 202134min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
rss-krimstad
p3-krim
flashback-forever
spar
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-krimreportrarna
motiv
politiken
aftonbladet-daily
rss-flodet
krimmagasinet
rss-aftonbladet-krim
rss-frandfors-horna
olyckan-inifran
rss-klubbland-en-podd-mest-om-frolunda
blenda-2
dagens-eko