What question did this study set out to answer?

To explore the factors contributing to the recent wave of coups in the Sahel region.

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May 6, 2026

The Expanding Sahel Coup Belt

Key Points

To explore the factors contributing to the recent wave of coups in the Sahel region.
Survey of coups occurring from 2020 onwards in the Sahel region.
Analysis of shared socio-political and economic factors contributing to coup attempts.
The Sahel is identified as a global epicenter for coups and terrorism.
Key factors include worsening poverty and crises in democratic governance.
The concentration of coups is linked to repeated coup attempts and a favorable international environment for post-coup regimes.

Abstract

Since 2020, the Sahel region has emerged as the global epicenter of coups d’état and terrorism. This article surveys why coups in recent years have been concentrated in a narrow belt running from Guinea-Bissau on West Africa’s Atlantic coast all the way to Sudan on the continent’s Red Sea coast. Though there is limited evidence of direct coordination or foreign sponsorship, shared causes of Africa’s latest coup wave include “traps” of repeated coup attempts, poverty, worsening terrorism, crises of democratic governance, and an international environment that has grown more favorable to post-coup regimes. Democratic renewal and domestic tranquility remain elusive within the Sahel coup belt, which threatens to keep expanding.

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