Coups are less common than they were a half-century ago
But a greater share of today’s putsches have undesirable long-term consequences
THE COUP D’ETAT has grown out of fashion. In 1980 there were 19 coups or attempted coups around the world, according to the Centre for Systemic Peace (CSP), an American think-tank, or roughly one every 19 days. In 2020, by contrast, the world went 230 days without one. That streak ended on August 18th when soldiers overthrew the elected government in Mali (though under the CSP’s definition this would count as a “coerced resignation” rather than a full-blown military putsch). Although forced government takeovers like this one occur less frequently than they used to, that does not make them any less worrying.
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