[Previous entry: "Between Venezuela and Nothingland"] [Next entry: "Thatcher agrees to pay bail for son in S. Africa: report"]

08/31/2004:

"Africa takes tough stand on coups"

"We've entered a new era," says John Stremlau, head of the international relations department at the University of Witwatersrand here. "Around the region over the last few years, you've seen an increased willingness to be more assertive in the face of this kind of action."

Postcolonial Africa has been hobbled by illegitimate political takeovers. According to research by Patrick McGowan, a professor of political science at Arizona State University in Tempe, in sub-Saharan Africa between 1956 and 2001 there were 80 successful coups, 108 failed coup attempts, and 139 reported coup plots. There have been 11 attempted or successful coups since then.

Full Article : csmonitor.com