Abstract
Military coups are nothing new in Africa. Since the independence of most African countries in the 1960s, the continent has seen leaders deposed for reasons ranging from longevity in power to looting of state wealth through systematic corruption and embezzlement, disregard for economic and social development, differences in political ideologies, amongst others.
Whereas the reasons described above have dominated the discourse on military coups in Africa, other critical factors that appear to be encouraging military takeovers in West and Central African subregions stem from both a general breakdown in security and the war against terrorism. With the Sahel becoming a breeding ground for terrorists and governments in the region failing to deal with the setback, hundreds have been slain in the most brutal and horrifying ways conceivable, creating an environment of dread and leading to massive internal and external displacements.
After declining to roughly two a year in the two decades up to 2019, with only one coup reported in 2020 (in Mali), the number of coups or attempted coups in 2021 was substantially higher than usual - six coups or attempted coups were documented. In that year, there were successful coups in Chad, Mali, Guinea, and Sudan, as well as failed military takeovers in Niger and Sudan.
In 2022 alone, Burkina Faso has seen two successful military takeovers, the first in January when the army removed an elected president, Roch Kaboré, and the second on September 30th. Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the commander of the first Burkinabe putsch, attempted to legitimise it by claiming that the government was unable to battle terrorists who had taken most of the country. This time, the new 34-year-old strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, also mentioned the "deterioration of the security situation" of the country in his statement. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the driving forces behind the current wave of military coups in Africa and how they affect security choices, especially the rise in terrorist activities rooted in religious extremism.
A significant question would be whether the coups have facilitated the fight against terrorism in the subregions or whether they have given terrorist groups more opportunities to survive and spread, as military coups per se constitute a security threat to sovereignty and nation building.
Africa Online & Publications Library is calling for abstracts to cover the aforementioned issue and its concurrent impacts on general security in Africa, growth or decrease in terrorist activities, governance and regional stability.
Abstracts should be no more than 250-300 words. After the abstracts are accepted, authors will be requested to submit complete manuscripts ranging in length from 6000 to 9000 words. Use the Chicago referencing style found here for references: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html
The final papers will be presented on January 10th, 2023, during a virtual conference organised by Africa Online & Publications Library, which will be followed by a roundtable discussion that will result in the production and publication of a policy recommendation. In the end, Africa Online & Publications Library will publish the papers on its online platform, with 30% of revenues accruing from sales going to authors in order to encourage them to continue making an influence on African security governance through the power of the pen.
The deadline for abstract submission is October 31st, 2022; shortlisted abstracts will be announced by November 10th, 2022; authors will have until November 30th, 2022, to submit drafts of full papers, and final papers on December 31st, 2022. The virtual conference takes place on January 10th, 2023, as earlier stated, and following the conference reviews, presented papers will be revised for the last time and eventually published on January 31st 2023.
Submit your abstracts to info@africaopl.org
