That said, there are two important differences between dictatorships and autocracies. 8. The report states that in 2017, disinformation campaigns were carried out in 28 countries. Is social media becoming a threat to democracy on the continent? By Greg Miller. WebOne-party dictatorships became prominent in Asia and Eastern Europe during the Cold War as communist governments were installed in several countries. There is a consensus among UN and development agencies, international financial institutions, and many Africans that good governance is critical. Wagner group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals. 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. West Africa and East Africa both have mostly partially free regimes. What happens in Sudan will not stay in Sudan, said Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group. Hybrid dictatorships: What its like to live under a Dictatorship. Although it is true that some dictators are far more strict and overbearing than others, as a rule, dictatorships tend to result in a loss of personal autonomy, quality of life, and political choice for everyday citizens. A political rival accused Obiang of cannibalism in 2004, but no evidence to support the claim has ever surfaced. It uneasily shares its waters with regional heavyweights Egypt and Ethiopia. In neighboring Guinea, some initially greeted the coup leader as a liberator, but many also shut themselves up at home, afraid for the future. 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 and Saudi Arabia in their war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. A look at what is happening and the impact it could have outside Sudan. Resilient institutions offer the best tonic to unscrupulous elitespresent everywhere, but a particular scourge in sub-Saharan Africa, where institutions have been deliberately weakened during the colonial period and subsequently by big men and their associated militaries. Paradoxically, the weakness of Burkina Fasos armed forces was a major factor in the coup. After authoritarian monarchies, these tend to be the longest-lasting dictatorships, as they can more easily install a new dictator if the existing one leaves office (rare) or dies. COVID-19 has also dramatically redirected Ethiopias political landscape deeper into authoritarianism. Others, such as Botswana, enjoy high levels of economic and social development. According to Opiyo, this involves using bots and trolls, computer programs, and paid users who use fake accounts to flood social media with posts favorable to the government. People are fed up with their governments for many reasons major security threats, relentless humanitarian disasters and millions of young people having no prospects. 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. Arab Gulf countries have looked to the Horn of Africa in recent years as they have sought to project power across the region. November 8, 2022 Global Climate Agreements: Successes and Failures, Backgrounder Human rights activist Opiyo says that with reports like these, it is becoming clear thatthe earlier view of social media as "a liberating force for democracy" is disappearing: "(N)ow we see the dangers associated with it, and how social media can be used to undermine democratic processes. Presidents that have changed their countries constitutions to eliminate the two-term limit include Presidents Gnassingb (Togo), Museveni (Uganda), Dby (Chad), Kenya and the Ivory Coast, both with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of around $2,000, are significantly richer than Malawi and the breakaway territory of Somaliland (rated separately from Somalia by Freedom House), each with income per person at around $400. To compare levels of democracy across different countries, Freedom House, a well-regarded nongovernmental organization, publishes an index that measures by standard criteria the degree of freedom enjoyed by people in countries and some territories and assigns to each a numerical score. WebAs of early 2022, the countries of Afghanistan, Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan are the only nations in the world whose governments are generally considered to be Izama saysthat "(t)he political leadership, especially here in sub-Saharan Africa, comes from a generation where society was structured so that the child would not contradict the father.". In March 2021, Magufuli diedhis death was attributed to heart disease but was likely brought on by COVID-19. In southern Africa, the triumvirate of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa are all considered free. Littoral states are also, on average, freer than landlocked ones, likely benefitting from increased interactions with foreigners from democratic societiesa factor more important prior to the advent of the digital age. A curation of original analyses, data visualizations, and commentaries, examining the debates and efforts to improve health worldwide. Egypt has close ties to Sudans military, which it sees as an ally against Ethiopia. Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and Mali have all seen the government overthrown and replaced with a military junta. Indeed, it is telling that while many people supported the coups that removed Mr Cond and Mr Keta, the most recent surveys conducted by Afrobarometer found that 76% of Guineans and 70% of Malians reject military rule. When the Malian government fell, analysts warned that Burkina Faso could follow. PMI, Presidents Malaria Initiative Strategy 2021-2026, 2021. That, along with the war in Ukraine and global inflation, sent the economy into free-fall. Dictatorships seem much more extreme and unethical to people who enjoy the privilege of an outside perspective. Yet, Malawi offers a bright spot amid the pandemic. when approximately half of the Current Heads of State & Dictators - Planet Rulers, President Faustin Archange Touadera of the, President Flix Tshilombo Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, President Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, President Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan of. They also provide added stability around elections. Paramilitary power brokers. April 13, 2023 Mr. Kufuor said any attempt by leaders in Africa to restrict the freedom of the citizenry will stifle progress in the region. The Modern Worlds Dictatorship Countries African Dictators A Global View of Dictators Is China a dictatorship? But a military takeover doesnt necessarily lead to a more effective response against insurgencies continuing attacks in Mali are evidence of that, she said. The internet and social media are increasingly empowering Africas youthful population to become politically active. Millions of people across the Sahel region have been displaced, and thousands are dead and often, people say that politicians seem not to notice or care, driving fancy cars and sending their children to expensive foreign schools. Meanwhile, the number of African countries that Freedom House rated not free has grown from a low of fourteen in 2006 and 2008 to twenty in 2021. Despite the fact that hundreds of people have been injured and at least 79 killed, the Sudanese people continue to demand their democratic rights. However, Chinas model of developmental authoritarianism remains attractive to those who see democracy as an impediment to development. On 18 September 2001, Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki took advantage of the fact that the world was still stunned by the 9/11 terrorist attacks to transform his country into a dictatorship and ban all independent media. China's constitution calls its government a "people's democratic dictatorship." There are currently 22 dictators in Africa, some worse than others. Sub-Saharan Africa remains a region of stark political and socio-economic contrasts and many longstanding challenges. Examples can be found across Africa: from Guinea to Somalia to South Africa, democracy ratings slid amid the COVID-19 crisis. The victor of the latest fighting is likely to be Sudans next president, with the loser facing exile, arrest or death. Military takeovers are unlikely to provide an effective way out of this dangerous spiral, because every coup weakens democratic institutions and reasserts the power of the gun at the expense of the power of the ballot box. Ukraine updates: Air defenses fend off attack near Kyiv, Ukraine: Russian troops edge closer to taking Bakhmut, Ukraine's counteroffensive: Goals, opportunities, risks, Truly revolutionary? by CFR.org Editors 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. Will Merrow created the graphics for this article. Personalistic dictatorships: 4. The regional economic bloc, ECOWAS, imposed punishing sanctions that were partly intended to turn Malians against the junta, putting pressure on the military leaders to commit to a speedy election timetable. Web6. An autocracy, monarchy, and dictatorship. C.V. Starr & Co. Heavy gunfire was heard in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, as fighting raged between rival forces for the sixth day despite a truce agreement. Globally in 2000 there were a total of 108 endemic countries. Burkina Faso this week joined a list of countries that have recently experienced military takeovers most plagued by insecurity, poor governance and frustrated youth. Apr 9, 2021 | Tags: President | Category: 1 Africa dictators, Africa Leaders, All, Dictators. From 2015 to 2020, the United States provided over $4.8 billion in SFA to sub-Saharan Africa. Yet having promised to pave the way for more stable and inclusive government, this inevitably disappoints pro-democratic citizens to the point where the coup leaders themselves face the risk of being overthrown. Crowds gathered in the main plaza in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Tuesday, a day after the military announced their takeover on state television. Put another way, Africa can and does reap a democratic dividend - the problem comes when supposedly democratic leaders start to use undemocratic strategies to keep themselves in power against the wishes of their people. Renewing America, Backgrounder Is climate change killing Australian wine? The United States, the European Union and France endorsed the sanctions on Mali, but at the U.N. Security Council, Russia and China blocked a statement supporting them. The Five Kinds of Dictatorship 1. A long-running civil war or partition of the Arab and African country into rival fiefdoms are also possible. Its a recipe for the kind of prolonged conflict that has devastated other countries in the Middle East and Africa, from Lebanon and Syria to Libya and Ethiopia. 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. In both countries, civilian leaders lost popularity in part because they departed from democracy, not simply because citizens lost faith with it. More broadly, digital repression has become commonplaceespecially around electionsas leaders seek to throttle the opposition and influence popular discourse, frequently through disinformation. Power is obtained and passed on through family connections. There have been eight coups, successful and unsuccessful, in West and Central Africa between 2020 and 2022. 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. After the central government used the pandemic to postpone parliamentary elections scheduled for August 2020, leaders from the Tigray region held local elections in defiance of the order. Strong institutions of government are a common feature, acting as a bulwark against self-interested leaders, such as former South African President Jacob Zuma, who is now on trial for corruption. Robyn Dixon. Instead, presidents atrophied support because they undermined their own democratic credentials in a context of rising instability and - in the case of Burkina Faso and Mali - jihadist insurgencies. Powers farther afield havent done much better. The dictator is the absolute ruler. In recent months, negotiations were underway for a return to the democratic transition. His wealth is estimated to be approximately $600 million. Across Africa, long-standing dictators are losing their grip on power. Therefore, the entire country operates on the whims of that one person. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, African leaders complain about 'wave of coups'. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, and Joseph Krauss in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed. African Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic) North Korea. In Sudan, for example, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against a military power grab in 2021 that undermined the supposed transition of power into civilian hands following the removal of long-time leader Omal al-Bashir in 2019. 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. But when the countrys Supreme Court upheld incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addos victory, Mahama accepted the results, conceding that he was legally bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court. Large-scale violence was absent from the electoral process; five people, however, were killed in postelection violence. by Will Freeman In other countries, such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and South Sudan, power has changed hands more frequently, though transfers have come from coups, wars, or deals between elites made behind closed doors. To combat the trend, the United States and other partners should commit to the painstaking work of bolstering democratic institutions. Facebook alsostatedthat as part of its strategy, the Ministry of Information had been using "fake and duplicate accounts" for propaganda purposes. The campaign also calledfor better overall governance in West Africa's largest democracy. https://www.nytimes.com/article/burkina-faso-africa-coup.html. Meanwhile, the sheer number of would-be mediators including the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, Egypt, Gulf countries, the African Union and the eight-nation eastern Africa bloc known as IGAD could render any peace efforts more complicated than the war itself. By 2021 this had dropped to 84, yet nearly half of the world's population was still classified as 'at risk' of malaria. ', MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Trevelyan relative 'would consider' famine payment, Four dead after suspected pigeon racer dispute, Adidas sued by investors over Kanye West deal, UK chip giant Arm files for blockbuster share sale, Suspected IS chief killed in Syria, Turkey says, Pope urges Hungarians to 'open doors' to migrants. International powers insist that the military rulers should hold swift elections. All the attention goes to organizing periodic elections, which in most cases are rigged, he said. Authoritarian and semi-authoritarian rulers, mindful of foreign opinion, have dressed their regimes with the forms of democracy, such as regular (if rigged) elections and de jure (not de facto) separation of powers. 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. Thats more than 114 million people now ruled by soldiers who have illegally seized power. January 29, 2021 at 5:00 a.m. EST. by What is more, despite growing frustration with the way that multiparty politics is performing, on average democracies generate higher economic growth and do a better job of providing public services, according to a study at the US's Cornell University. Small island nations make up an outsize share of free African countries, and they are freer on average than similarly sized countries on the mainland, such as Djibouti and Eswatini. "The spread of fake news is a real problem," said Ugandan human rights activist Nicholas Opiyo in a DW interview. Protesters in Bamako wave Malian and Russian flags during a May demonstration in Bamako against French influence in the country. He wouldn't be the only one in Africa. But while it is tempting to interpret the spate of coups as evidence that democracy in Africa is dying, that would be a mistake. Opposition figures including Tundu Lissu and Freeman Mbowe have called for a new constitution that limits presidential powers. Crowds cheering for soldiers driving through Bamako, Mali, in August 2020, after the military removed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from power. 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. Its an explosive cocktail. Just like a dictatorship, an autocracy is a government headed by a single ruler (the autocrat) whose decisions are not subject to legal restraints and who exercises unlimited and undisputed power. Russia, meanwhile, has long harbored plans to build a naval base capable of hosting up to 300 troops and four ships in Port Sudan, on a crucial Red Sea trading route for energy shipments to Europe. The Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Annual Lecture on Science and Technology addresses issues at the intersection of science, technology, and foreign policy. In 2021, five sitting African heads of state had been in power for more than three decades each: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Equatorial Guinea, Paul Biya Both Twitter and Facebook accusethe Ugandan government of using social media asa tool politicians to manipulate public opinion, spread disinformation, and intimidate the opposition. As of 2020, there are 52 nations with a dictator or authoritarian regime ruling the country: Three in Latin America and South America, 27 in Asia and the Middle East, and 22 in Africa. 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. Again, the Ultimately, said Ms. Schmauder, Military powers are kind of there to stay, and doing everything to cement their own power.. This is a critical point. The fighting, which began as Sudan attempted to transition to democracy, already has killed hundreds of people and left millions trapped in urban areas, sheltering from gunfire, explosions and looters. When the third wave of democratization swept across much of Africa in the wake of the Cold War, hopes were high that Africans would begin to enjoy the freedoms afforded to citizens living in the former colonial powers. If we wait until the next elections in 2025 to change leaders, our country will no longer exist, he said. Its citizens acquired the right to vote well before modern industrial This growing trend is driving democratic backsliding on the continent. Four trends stand out: In its 2021 report, Freedom House rated only eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa as free. From the outside looking in, life within a dictatorship appears akin to being in a toxic relationship or living situation. The second-largest decline in this years report occurred in Belarus, which lost eight points as security forces attempted to crush antigovernment demonstrations triggered by the fraudulent reelection of Alyaksandr Fighting in Sudan between forces loyal to two top generals has put that nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Following military takeovers in five different African countries in the past year, some have suggested that democracy may not be the best form of government on the continent. First came Mali, in August 2020. South Africa continues to wrestle with the fallout of Across 11 countries surveyed in both 2008-2009 and 2019-2020, the Unfortunately, democracy is still shaky in many countries, a number of which are fighting violent religious insurrections, and the likelihood of any fallen dictator being quickly replaced by another dictator is high. In many cases, though not all, new military leaders end up delaying the return to civilian rule. March 23, 2023 Return to text. Far from being a short-term Sudanese problem, this conflict between two rival centres of military power illustrates a common long-term problem in Africa. Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Friday, It represents a threat to peace, security and stability in West-Africa.. The dilemma remains that Africa is buffeted by immediate security challenges that will not wait for a democratic culture to develop. Yet, a single defining characteristic for these countries is difficult to pin down. We should actually address the political system thats not working.. Not necessarily. These five nations that have recently experienced military coups form a broken line that stretches across the wide bulge of Africa, from Guinea on the west coast to Sudan in the east. Six Coups. Heads of state have deftly manipulated social cleavages and played up fears of malevolent foreign interference to deflect popular pressure away from their illiberal rule. A citizen casts her ballot during parliamentary elections in April 2021 in Praia, Cape Verde. Tellingly, where coups have been seen to usurp processes of democratisation, they have been deeply unpopular. This is understandable, as the terms are very similar. Rumors spread of a military takeover. Gunfire rings out. 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. In the past 18 months, in similar scenes, military leaders have toppled the governments of Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and now, Burkina Faso. Another reason is of course the need to try and avoid international condemnation and sanctions by pledging a return to multiparty elections and democratic governance. The African Union suspended Mali, Guinea and Sudan, but not Chad a double standard that analysts warned could have dire consequences for Africa. Wagner group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals. 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. This means that the ruler or party has complete control. As governments across the continent become, with some exceptions, more authoritarian, Africans will be increasingly alienated from those claiming to represent them. WebFreedom in the World 2021 Status Change Explanations. by Olivia Angelino, Thomas J. Bollyky, Elle Ruggiero and Isabella Turilli Obiang's regime is known for state-sanctioned kidnappings, torture of prisoners, and unlawful killings. Now, the central bank is back in the spotlight for its battle against inflation. This is often done via questionable means, including intimidation, imprisonment (lawful or not), physical violence, or even assassination. 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. American-made guns trafficked through Florida ports are destabilizing the Caribbean and Central America and fueling domestic crime. ", Meanwhile, some governments are even going further and targeting their citizens directly by exploiting their internet affinity:"Spy software is being bought by governments and installed specifically on smartphones,"Amnesty expert Ulm-Dsterhft told DW. 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. Dictatorship has no future in Africa, former president, John Agyekum Kufuor has said. 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. Sudans economic woes would seem to provide an opening for Western nations to use economic sanctions to pressure both sides to stand down. The type of dictatorship a country is ruled by typically comes down to the methods the dictator used to obtain power and how they go about maintaining it. Leonard Mbulle-Nziege is a research analyst at Africa Risk Consulting (ARC) and Nic Cheeseman is a professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham in the UK. A dictator may have a team of officials who advise him or her and help keep the government running, but these officials ultimately have very little control or influence. 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. Chad and South Sudan look most immediately at risk of potential spillover. Now that it has, theyre warning that if the coup plotters arent punished, there will be more coups in the region. The rankings evaluate 85 countries across 26 rankings drawn from a survey of more than 17,000 global citizens, measuring 73 dimensions that have the potential to These countries usually have low levels of social development, underdeveloped civil organizations, and weak institutions of government. While their president was imprisoned at a military base, hundreds of Malians celebrated with soldiers in the streets. Mali actually had two coups in a nine-month span. What makes post-independence sub-Saharan Africa so interesting is that they have witnessed all forms of regimes including royal dictatorship, military dictatorship and civilian dictatorship making up the autocratic regimes, as well as democratic regimes that include parliamentary democracy, mixed democracy and presidential democracy. President Obiang gained power in 1979 after ousting his uncle, Francisco Macas Nguema, and sentencing him to death by firing squad. Tanzania offers a stark example. Governments are performing abysmally, said Abdul Zanya Salifu, a scholar at the University of Calgary who focuses on the Sahel, the swath of Africa that lies just below the Sahara. Renewing America, Timeline by James McBride, Anshu Siripurapu and Noah Berman Annual Lecture on China: Frayed RelationsThe United States and China, Virtual Event But it was not clear what ECOWAS could do, given its dubious record mediating in Mali. 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. But the United States and other partners canand shoulddo their part to create the conditions under which those fighting for democracy and good governance can feel safe to pursue their work. This may sound like a contradiction of terms to many people.
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