Between 2015 and 2020, the world never saw more than two successful coup attempts in a year. But there have now been eight coups in the past 12 months — most recently in Burkina Faso, where soldiers seized power last Monday.
There were five successful coups in 2021, the most in any year since 1999, according to research from Clayton Thyne of the University of Kentucky and Jonathan Powell of the University of Central Florida.
The big picture: Coups are now for the most part “limited to the poorest countries in the world” and tend to happen where there are severe security threats or civil wars, as well as a past history of coups, Powell tells Axios.
While there’s clearly a regional dynamic to the recent coup surge, Powell thinks the pandemic has also played a role by straining the resources of vulnerable countries and soaking up the attention of international actors.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member