Coups and Conflict in West Africa, 1955-2004

Part II, Empirical Findings

Bibliographic Data

ID5452905
AuthorsPatrick J Mcgowan (Stellenbosch University and Arizona State University, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume32
Issue2
Pages234-253
Publication date2006-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArmed Forces & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0095327x05277886
OpenAlexW2051479557
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited23

From independence through 2004, the sixteen West African states have experienced forty-four successful military-led coups, forty-three often-bloody failed coups, at least eighty-two coup plots, seven civil wars, and many other forms of political conflict. This two-part article seeks answers to the question, what has gone wrong inWest Africa? Part I uses world-systems and rational-choice analyses to provide theoretical answers involving macro structures and micro leadership behavior. Structural peripherality and poor leadership result in underdevelopment and state weakness, the major structural causes of West African instability. Empirical evidence demonstratesWest Africa's peripheral role in the world-economy, the high risks associated with political leadership in the region, andWest Africa's critical socioeconomic situation. Part II, appearing in the January 2006 issue, will examine new data on coups and conflict inWest Africa and speculate on what can be done to improve the situation

Armed conflict · Development economics · Economics · Independence (probability theory) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Psychological intervention · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · African Studies and Geopolitics · Global Political and Social Dynamics · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology

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