West Africa Coups

In recent years, West Africa has seen a spate of coups and attempted coups. Efforts by governance actors in the region to prevent these incidents have been largely ineffective. Coups are not the only security threat facing the region, and are just one of a variety of emergent challenges, including religious extremism, drug trafficking, and other transnational crimes. Common to these different security threats, however, is that they are a result of the systematic and sustained weakening of constitutional and democratic governance structures.