Three neighbouring countries had their governments overthrown within two years of each other. Then all three walked away from the regional bloc that had tried to reverse it.
mcqquestion.comInternational Relations · IntlRel0098
The Sahel: Instability and Coups
The Coups
Mali (2020, 2021), Burkina Faso (2022), Niger (2023).
The Response
All three left ECOWAS, January 2024.
The New Bloc
Alliance of Sahel States (AES), formed 2023.
Why this matters for the exam
A 2024 UPSC prelims question tested this directly: Sahel instability and its coups are linked, not just coincidental.
Must Know.
What the Sahel Is.
Geography and Recent Instability.
- The Region. The Sahel is a semi-arid transitional belt across Africa, running south of the Sahara Desert, stretching from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east.
- Worsening Security. The Sahel has faced a sharply worsening security situation in recent years, including a surge in jihadist insurgency and civilian deaths.
- A Wave of Coups. Military officers seized power in Mali (August 2020, then again in 2021), Burkina Faso (January 2022), and Niger (July 2023).
- A Linked Crisis. Analysts, including the OECD and International Crisis Group, describe the coups and worsening insecurity as a mutually reinforcing spiral, not two separate problems.
Previous Year Question.
Asked as: “Consider the following statements. Statement-I: There is instability and worsening security situation in the Sahel region. Statement-II: There have been military takeovers/coups d’etat in several countries of the Sahel region in the recent past.” This was asked in UPSC CSP 2024, GS Paper I. View this question.
Good to Know.
A Regional Realignment.
Leaving ECOWAS, Forming the AES.
- ECOWAS Exit. In January 2024, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
- Alliance of Sahel States. These same three countries formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in September 2023, signalling a shift toward an independent regional bloc.
- Civilian Toll. The first seven months of 2023 alone saw at least 7,800 civilian deaths in the region, a sharp rise from the year before.
- A Wider Pattern. Seven coups took place across the West African Sahel over roughly four years, reflecting deep, connected instability rather than isolated events.
A Broader 2021 Coup Wave.
- Four Countries, One Year. Chad, Guinea, Mali, and Sudan each saw a successful coup in 2021, a sharp jump from just one successful coup across Africa in 2020.
- Chad. Chad’s army seized power in April 2021, after President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield. His son immediately suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament.
- Guinea. Guinea’s Colonel Mamady Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Conde in September 2021, a year after Conde changed the constitution to seek a third term.
- Mali’s Second Coup. Mali’s May 2021 coup, against interim president Bah Ndaw, followed an earlier coup in August 2020 — the same country’s second takeover in under a year.
- Sudan. Sudan’s military detained the country’s civilian leaders in October 2021, about a month after officials said they had foiled a coup attempt tied to the former regime.
Test Yourself.
Great to Know.
Why This Format Trips Candidates.
Assertion-and-Reason Questions.
- Two True Facts Aren’t Enough. This question format tests whether one true statement actually explains another true statement, not just whether both are individually accurate.
- A Genuine Causal Link. Here, the coups genuinely deepened instability, since juntas often struggled to control insurgent violence, unlike a case where two facts are true but unrelated.
- A Recurring Region. The Sahel has appeared repeatedly in recent current-affairs coverage, given its combination of security crises, foreign-power realignment, and humanitarian strain.
- Exam Angle. UPSC frequently tests current international crises through this exact “does II explain I” structure, rewarding candidates who track the actual causal narrative, not just headlines.
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