By 2021 this had dropped to 84, yet nearly half of the world's population was still classified as 'at risk' of malaria. Both Twitter and Facebook accusethe Ugandan government of using social media asa tool politicians to manipulate public opinion, spread disinformation, and intimidate the opposition. This is a critical point. The United State and the European Union have imposed sanctions on two Wagner-linked gold mining firms in Sudan accused of smuggling. Where democracy stands in Africa today has myriad influences, including the legacy of colonialism and the emergence of the digital age. Dictatorships seem much more extreme and unethical to people who enjoy the privilege of an outside perspective. Geography is not quite destiny, but similarly rated countries do tend to form clusters. Egypt has close ties to Sudans military, which it sees as an ally against Ethiopia. China's constitution calls its government a "people's democratic dictatorship." The #EndSARSmovement was initated by social media-savvyyoung Nigerians, who sought to put pressure onthe government to abolish Nigeria's controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit. In Burkina Faso, a country that has experienced a lot of coups, there were a handful of pro-putsch rallies the day after the military seized power, but many people just went to work as usual. But here, Leonard Mbulle-Nziege and Nic Cheeseman argue that - despite these set-backs - democracy is the way forward for Africa. Such turmoil will grow as elites compete for power and citizens resist oppressive regimes, and will, in turn, inhibit social and economic development, to the disadvantage of the continents rapidly growing population. The United Arab Emirates, a rising military power that has expanded its presence across the Middle East and East Africa, has close ties to the Rapid Support Forces, which sent thousands of fighters to aid the UAE In Africa, authoritarian states are often run by strongmen, geriatric leaders for life, some of whom are now looking to anoint their sons as their successors. This third annual report monitors global progress towards the 2023 target for global elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA), highlighting achievements from the past year. Four trends stand out: In its 2021 report, Freedom House rated only eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa as free. Why Now? Will Merrow created the graphics for this article. Power is obtained and passed on through family connections. There, a popular uprising had succeeded in overthrowing a military dictator in 2019, but there has been sustained public outrage since last October when the military took back full control of the government, and detained the civilian prime minister who had served in what was supposed to be a power-sharing government. Wagner group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals. Both sides have tens of thousands of fighters, foreign backers, mineral riches and other resources that could insulate them from sanctions. American-made guns trafficked through Florida ports are destabilizing the Caribbean and Central America and fueling domestic crime. Global Health Program, Innovating Solutions to the Climate Crisis, Virtual Event Ghana is the most notable, positive exception in West Africa. Rwanda is an exception: its social development indicators rank higher than its human rights standing, and its president, Paul Kagame, is relatively young at sixty-three years of age. In March 2021, there was a failed coup attempt in Niger, then in September 2021, it was Guineas turn: A high-ranking officer trained by the United States overthrew a president who had tried to cling to power. Mali actually had two coups in a nine-month span. Germany's 49 public transport ticket, Buhari's government banned Nigerians from accessing the micro-blogging site. In general, the lack of accountability that occurs under dictators and military juntas leads to greater corruption and less effective economic policy. This Obiang's regime is known for state-sanctioned kidnappings, torture of prisoners, and unlawful killings. Other dictators across Latin America also released political prisoners and hastened transitions to democratic elections, a transformation Carter encouraged without sending Americans into combat. Will They Make a Difference? Mali also had a coup in 2012, and many Malians feel that after that, their country did everything the West demanded of it with regard to democracy, such as holding elections quickly. Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and Mali have all seen the government overthrown and replaced with a military junta. At his swearing-in, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said he would lead a government that serves, not a government that rules. Many Africans, it seems, stand ready to push for the same from their own leaders and governments. African by Lindsay Maizland and Eleanor Albert Social media is becoming another tool of oppression.". By 2009, two-thirds were considered free or partly free.. There have been eight coups, successful and unsuccessful, in West and Central Africa between 2020 and 2022. And this is a problem everywhere that the West fetishizes sticking to a strict electoral calendar, said Mr. Salifu, while ignoring or downplaying other elements of democracy like a free press, freedom from political repression or human rights. Personalistic dictatorships: 4. One reason that democracy may remain the favoured political system for so many African societies - even in countries where it has yet to be realised - is the poor performance of authoritarian governments. The People's Republic of China is currently ruled by President Xi Jinping, who also serves as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the country's Vice President, the President of the Central Party School, and the 1st ranked member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee. Dictators often employ illegal and/or immoral methods to maintain their power and control, including the use of secret police, indefinite arrests, and concentration camps. Thus in total, almost 440 Ugandan social media accounts close to the Ugandan government have beenblocked by social media networks in the East African country to date. Anyone can read what you share. Declan Walsh contributed reporting from Ouagadougou. To combat the trend, the United States and other partners should commit to the painstaking work of bolstering democratic institutions. After all, the overthrow of civilian presidents was followed by street celebrations in some countries as citizens cheered the downfall of elected leaders. Supporters of a military Young peoplein particular, he highlights, are now ablewith the help of the internetto react immediately to laws and bans, and make their opinions known about the performance of the government or of private institutions. Similarly, former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keta was accused of rigging the 2020 legislative elections. The military took advantage of public anger at a stolen parliamentary election and the governments failure to protect its people from violent extremists, and arrested President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and forced him to resign on state television. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. The terms "autocrat" and "autocracy" are often used interchangeably with "dictator" and "dictatorship". This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Sudan is Africas third-largest country by area and straddles the Nile River. Some said they were inspired by the way the junta in neighboring Mali had stood up to France, the increasingly unpopular former colonial power. Nolan Quinn. This means that the ruler or party has complete control. The persistence of religious and ethnic rivalries has been underestimated by African democrats and their friends abroad. Conceptually, security assistance programs that engage military and police forcesare a greater challenge, especially given the alienation of many Africans from their governments. They are also less likely to experience damaging conflicts and to commit widespread human rights abuses. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is suspected of using fake social media accounts to consolidate his power. When necessary, a dictator may also make an effort to replace or amend the nation's constitution to empower, enrich, or otherwise benefit the dictator and his/her allies to a greater degree. Finding a way out of instability and insecurity will therefore require building stronger democratic institutions that can withstand manipulation by political leaders, not authoritarian ones that exclude citizens and run counter to their aspirations. Yet, if a witchs brew of jihadi terrorists, criminal networks, and the disaffected destroy sitting governments, the human rights consequences certainly will be worse than the status quo. This growing trend is driving democratic backsliding on the continent. Dictatorships have shallow levels of freedom. The poor performance of authoritarian forms of government on African soil, and the universal desire to have a say in decisions that affect our own lives, helps to explain why support for democracy remains high. Michele Cattani/Agence France-Presse Getty Images, governments failure to protect its people from violent extremists. In the past 18 months, in similar scenes, military leaders have toppled the governments of Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and now, Burkina Faso. by Olivia Angelino, Thomas J. Bollyky, Elle Ruggiero and Isabella Turilli As in other parts of the world, it thus remains unclear whether the increasing prevalence and importance of the internet and social media, in their totality, will have a beneficial, deleterious, or ambiguous effect on democracy. WebAfrica A tank in downtown Harare Asia Thai soldiers at the Chang Phueak Gate in Chiang Mai. PMI, Presidents Malaria Initiative Strategy 2021-2026, 2021. COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity: were the United States to launch a vast vaccination assistance program, it would affirm to many Africans that democracy and good governance can address their ills. Conceived as the principal defenders of the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has evolved into an institution with vast political, economic, and military power. However, many people in long-running dictatorships such as North Korea and Cameroon have never experienced anything else, so living in a dictatorship is much less jarring and shocking to them. First is that an autocracy nearly always focuses power in a single individual person, whereas dictatorshipssingle-party dictatorships in particularsometimes spread the power throughout a small group of people (say, the leaders of the dictator's political party). by Will Freeman What can Africas foreign friends do to encourage a democratic trajectory? In Ghanas 2020 election, former President John Mahama, running as the opposition candidate, rejected his defeat. Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Friday, It represents a threat to peace, security and stability in West-Africa.. Cellou Binani/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. After the coup in Burkina Faso, the regional economic bloc, ECOWAS, released a statement saying that such a move cannot be tolerated, and instructing the soldiers to return to their barracks. Return to text. Alex De Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University, wrote in a memo to colleagues this week that the conflict should be seen as the first round of a civil war.. The campaign also calledfor better overall governance in West Africa's largest democracy. Eswatini (previously Swaziland) has an absolute monarchy dictatorship in which the king rules over the country. That said, there are two important differences between dictatorships and autocracies. Even in the countries in which a coup has taken place, a majority of citizens want to live in a democracy and reject authoritarian rule. The United Arab Emirates, a rising military power that has expanded its presence across the Middle East and East Africa, has close ties to the Rapid Support Forces, which sent thousands of fighters to aid the UAE In March 2021, Magufuli diedhis death was attributed to heart disease but was likely brought on by COVID-19. The military takes control of the country (usually through a direct coup), installs the dictator of its choosing (typically the highest-ranking military officer), and uses force of arms to preserve its power. Mali and Burkina Fasos armed forces have little to no control over vast areas of their territories, and lean heavily on self-defense militias with little training and questionable human rights records. The vast majority of these large SFA recipients are repressive, heavily Hes also believed to have been well-paid by Gulf countries for the RSFs service in Yemen battling Iran-aligned rebels. If we wait until the next elections in 2025 to change leaders, our country will no longer exist, he said. Its isolation deepened over the conflict in the western Darfur region in the 2000s, when Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed were accused of carrying out atrocities while suppressing a local rebellion. It has been endowed in perpetuity through a gift from CFR members Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener. The United Nations [PDF] and advanced democracies including France, Japan, and the United Kingdom have similarly linked foreign aid to good-governance reforms. The internet and social media are increasingly empowering Africas youthful population to become politically active. While autocratic countries are not always malevolent, they often still encounter resistance from citizens who would prefer to have a greater say in the government's policy-making process. On April 21, 1976, a group of four Greek Army colonels overthrew the caretaker government in a coup d'etat. Single-party dictatorships: 5. Egypt relies on the Nile to support its population of over 100 million, and Ethiopia is working on a massive upstream dam that has alarmed both Cairo and Khartoum. In their first meeting, in April 2021, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari proposed to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the headquarters of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) be moved from Stuttgart, Germany, to an African country. But a military takeover doesnt necessarily lead to a more effective response against insurgencies continuing attacks in Mali are evidence of that, she said. Nonetheless, the index provides an objective standard and vocabulary with which to assess and compare personal freedoms across Africa. Arab Gulf countries have looked to the Horn of Africa in recent years as they have sought to project power across the region. Global Climate Agreements: Successes and Failures, Backgrounder The external mediators risk becoming a traffic jam with no policeman, De Waal said.
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