Geopolitics, ‘Popular’ Coups, and ‘Autocratic’ Vanguardism in the Sahel: Whose Interest is Served?
The political atmosphere of the Sahel since the 2010s has been particularly threatening. The region has evolved from being the global epicentre of violent extremism to being the coup hub of Africa and the wider world. Currently, the region is witnessing a volatile geopolitical scenario, characterized by the emergence of new players, new interests and shifting alignments. The traditional pro-western defence, economic and diplomatic leaning of the region in international affairs has significantly shifted to a pattern that is overly biased towards Russia and China. This is in the face of growing widespread anti-French/ West populism that is sweeping across the region. The rise of populist juntas in many states of the Sahel has been associated with populist rhetoric that presents the West and their agencies as the enemies of the region and Africa at large. The new juntas have capitalized on the prevailing anti-West discontents in the region to legitimize and consolidate their autocratic hold on power, amidst popular acclamation by the citizenry. In the regime order that unfolds, whose interest is served? Whose interest is at stake? And what does the situation hold for security and governance in the troubled region? By way of a qualitative research that draws on secondary sources, the study seeks to unpack the Sahel’s autocratizing transitions amid the multi-polarizing and opportunistic big power geopolitics in the region. Among others, the outcome of the study will situate the trends and dynamics that undergird the unfolding Sahel’s debacle and what their nexus hold for security, stability and governance.
Keywords: Autocracy, coups, geopolitics, Sahel, vanguardism.