The March 22, 2012 Coup in Mali: Lessons and Implications for Democracy in the West Africa Subregion in the Wave of Transnational Terrorism

Abstract

This article does not justify or sanction ascension to political power through coup d’état. Neither does it rationalize the March 22, 2012 action of the coup-makers in Mali. It subscribes to the popular notion that military regimes are an aberration and an anachronistic system of government. It argues, however, that beyond the unpopularity of military regimes, the coup in Mali should be looked at holistically, taking into cognizance the chain of events that ultimately culminated in the action by the Captain Amadou Sanogo–led Committee for the Re-establishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State. It submits that looking at the problem merely from the point of view of the doctrine of military subordination to civil political authorities will obstruct an opportunity to address the salient and underlying factors that caused the crisis in Mali as well as other countries of the subregion grappling with similar problems. It notes the reality of political Islam in the Maghreb and Sahel regions and its insidious growth into the West Africa subregion and contends that the event in Mali exposes the vulnerability of the West Africa subregion to Islamic fundamentalism—and signals a major threat not only to the stability of the countries of the subregion but also its democratization process as it poses great danger not only for democracy in the subregion but its consolidation.