Putting West Africa’s ‘Coup Contagion’ in Context

The lackluster international response to the wave of coups sweeping West Africa may encourage opportunistic military leaders to overthrow fragile governments elsewhere in the region, but internal dynamics lay the groundwork for military coups. In West Africa, this means other states are at risk of military takeovers and the resulting security and financing challenges. On Feb. 1, less than a week after military forces successfully seized Burkina Faso’s government, reports of gunfire near a compound where Guinea-Bissau’s president was holding a meeting set off alarm bells that yet another coup was underway in West Africa, which has seen five successful government takeovers in the past year and a half. Security forces ultimately quashed the attempt to overthrow the Bissau-Guinean government, but the incident nonetheless added to growing fears of a “coup contagion” in the region: During his opening address at a summit of West African leaders to discuss Burkina Faso’s...