Politics, State Fragility and the Resurgence of Coups in the Sahel Region: The Malian Experience

This paper explores political, economic and social factors that lead to state fragility in Mali and how military coups have contributed to its political and regional stability. This aims at assessing the effects of such coups on the processes of democracy in Mali and how foreign interventions affect the political stability of the nation. The theoretical framework used in the study is State Fragility Theory that puts more emphasis on weak governance, corruption, and institutional failures as the factors of fragility. The qualitative approach was used, and the secondary data were collected through scholarly articles, governmental reports, as well as international news media. It has been found out that weak administrative systems, economic instability and social fragmentation have been the main causes of the recurrent military coups in Mali. The coups have been particularly destructive to the democratic processes, governance structures, and there has been an increase in threats to the security of the region. Besides, foreign intervention, such as the French military intervention, and Russian intervention have contributed to the fragility of states, causing more dependency on the foreign powers, and weakening the sovereignty of Mali. The paper concludes that the Mali military coup is a symptom and a cause of further structural problems in the state. Even though these coups can bring some short-term stability, it compromises the long term outlook of democracy, governance and peace in the region. Among other recommendations, the study speculates that the strengthening of democratic institutions by making them more accountable and political inclusivity are necessary, to rebuild the confidence of the citizens in the civilian leadership.