Web6. This April 23, 2023 at 2:00 a.m. EDT. March 23, 2023 January 31, 2022, How Tobacco Laws Could Help Close the Racial Gap on Cancer, Interactive [27] One-party rule also developed in several countries in Africa during decolonization in the 1960s and 1970s, some of which produced authoritarian regimes. 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. Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic) North Korea. Military dictatorship - Wikipedia Totalitarian Countries 2023 - worldpopulationreview.com 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. Sudan: violence between army and militia is a symptom of an old By entering your email and clicking subscribe, you're agreeing to receive announcements from CFR about our products and services, as well as invitations to CFR events. 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. 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. But this demand angers some people who think that the military is acting in the countrys interest. China is one of the few remaining Communist countries. 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. Presidential term limits, where in place, have been frequently circumvented through so-called constitutional coups. 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. countries The military also couldnt stop Chads president, Idris Dby, a retired general, from being killed on the battlefield as rebels tried to overthrow his government. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. In some cases, this is because they enjoy the personal benefits of being in power and don't want to give them up. 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 There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else.. Article 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. Political instability can manifest itself in severe episodes of violence, as is already being seen in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Nigeria. Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic and an oligarchy. There is a consensus among UN and development agencies, international financial institutions, and many Africans that good governance is critical. Economic prosperity, also concentrated on the coasts [PDF], likely has also influenced a positive democratic trajectory. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news, are each seeking to seize control of Sudan, has made inroads across Africa in recent years, removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, has vast livestock holdings and gold mining operations. The internet and social media are increasingly empowering Africas youthful population to become politically active. However, Chinas model of developmental authoritarianism remains attractive to those who see democracy as an impediment to development. The Guardian view on India at a crossroads: development, not The persistence of religious and ethnic rivalries has been underestimated by African democrats and their friends abroad. 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. Africa is plagued by paramilitary militias and foreign mercenary groups. November 4, 2022 The campaign also calledfor better overall governance in West Africa's largest democracy. Cellou Binani/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. African VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules, What Europe's royals could teach King Charles. 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. Supporters of a military WebOne-party dictatorships became prominent in Asia and Eastern Europe during the Cold War as communist governments were installed in several countries. What Does the World Health Organization Do? 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. Political prisoners share how Jimmy Carter saved their lives 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. The external mediators risk becoming a traffic jam with no policeman, De Waal said. In 2021, social media shutdowns also took place in Burkina Faso, South Sudan, Senegal, Congo, Zambia, Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Sudan. Meanwhile the U.S. said it will deploy additional capacities for possible evacuation and the U.N called for an immediate ceasefire. An observer signs a paper marking the closing of the polls at a polling station in Mekele during Tigrays regional elections in September 2020. The Communist Party of China is the founding and sole governing political party of the People's Republic of China. The government also doesn't shy away from temporarily shutting down social media alrogether, as waswitnessed during the run-up to the presidential election a year ago. Again, the 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. 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 Sub-Saharan Africa: undemocratic regimes undermine Its citizens acquired the right to vote well before modern industrial 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. Globally in 2000 there were a total of 108 endemic countries. The U.S. removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after the government in Khartoum agreed to forge ties with Israel in 2020. 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). Protesters against military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, in October. With a population that is much younger than those of China, the US and the EU, there will be renewed interest in Indias potential to be a beacon of liberal values. Globally in 2000 there were a total of 108 endemic countries. In southern Africa, the triumvirate of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa are all considered free. With every country that gets added to this list, the voices claiming that democracy is not working - and cannot work - in Africa grow louder. But that solved nothing: Insecurity got worse; corruption and living standards, no better. However, foreign as well as domestic expectations for liberal democracy in Africa have often been unrealistic, and Africas setbacks are not surprising. The Five Kinds of Dictatorship 1. Countries are responding to the World Health Organization (WHO) call to action by putting into place best-practice TFA policies. 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 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. The dilemma remains that Africa is buffeted by immediate security challenges that will not wait for a democratic culture to develop. 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. 2021 Whoever takes power now, he needs to follow the example of Mali reject France, and start to take our own decisions, said Anatole Compaore, a customer in a cellphone market in Ouagadougou, in the early hours of the coup. 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. In others, it is because they have political projects they wish to complete that take longer than expected. 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. Things Fall Apart: Dictatorships, Development, and Dictatorships suffer from an obvious and significant imbalance of power. President Vladimir Putin is currently serving his fourth term as President of Russia. 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. Vietnam. 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. American-made guns trafficked through Florida ports are destabilizing the Caribbean and Central America and fueling domestic crime. 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. This is thanks to an oil boom that enriched his family at the expense of the Equatorial Guinea citizens. Yet by invoking democracy to legitimate military takeover, coup plotters create a rod for their own backs. Wagner group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals. Eswatini. Egypt has close ties to Sudans military, which it sees as an ally against Ethiopia. By contrast, military regimes have a long history of abusing human rights while presiding over economic stagnation. Despite the decline, a plurality of countries (twenty-two) are considered partially free, in line with the sixteen-year average. President Obiang gained power in 1979 after ousting his uncle, Francisco Macas Nguema, and sentencing him to death by firing squad. Theres a belief that strongmen can better face the security risks, especially in the Sahelian countries where violence is spiraling, said Anna Schmauder, a research fellow focused on the Sahel in the conflict research unit of the Dutch think tank Clingendael. He wouldn't be the only one in Africa. Dagalo, a one-time camel herder from Darfur, has vast livestock holdings and gold mining operations. by Lindsay Maizland The Democratic Republic of Congo has been subjected to centuries of international intervention by European powers, as well as its African neighbors. In addition to executive authority, Putin also holds judicial and legislative power, which enables him to change the law to fit his agenda. by James McBride According to Freedom House, Malawi was the sole country globally whose democracy strengthened during COVID-19 lockdowns, after it became the first African country to overturn a fraudulent election through legal means and conduct a free and fair follow-up election. 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. Dictators Even so, continuing to build institutional infrastructure is the unglamorous way to promote a democratic trajectory in Africa. Conceptually, security assistance programs that engage military and police forcesare a greater challenge, especially given the alienation of many Africans from their governments. Some have been in power for decades, such as President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial New Guinea. 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. Nearly all are mired in their own internal conflicts, with various rebel groups operating along the porous borders. by Not everyone supported the coup. 2023 BBC. and. An autocracy, monarchy, and dictatorship. Why Sudan's conflict matters to the rest of the world | AP News The 25 Best Countries View All 29 Slides Sudans regional, economic and strategic importance Sudan is located at a critical nexus, geographically. Mr Cond had also become increasingly authoritarian in the months leading up to the coup, jailing and exacting violence against his political opponents and anti-government activists. Whats Happening to Democracy in Africa? - Council on Foreign As in Mali, many in Burkina Faso said they had lost faith in democracy, including Assami Ouedraogo, 35, a police officer who resigned in November. February 13, 2023 Africas Leaders for Life - Council on Foreign Relations Those criteria, and their application to a specific locale, are always subject to debate; the score can only be indicative, not definitive. We should actually address the political system thats not working.. Yet, Malawi offers a bright spot amid the pandemic. 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. The Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit with close ties to the Kremlin, has made inroads across Africa in recent years and has been operating in Sudan since 2017. A look at what is happening and the impact it could have outside Sudan. 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. Sudan borders five additional countries: Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, Eritrea and South Sudan, which seceded in 2011 and took 75% of Khartoums oil resources with it. One person holds all of the country's power. Given the degree of censorship and control China's government leverages over its citizens, most political experts would call it a dictatorship. They also provide added stability around elections. Military dictatorship: 2. The United Arab Emirates, a rising By Greg Miller. From 2015 to 2020, the United States provided over $4.8 billion in SFA to sub-Saharan Africa. 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. But he also calls forusers to act responsibly and remember thatnot everything found on social media is true. Communist Countries 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. Yet Rwanda is the exception rather than the rule. They are also less likely to experience damaging conflicts and to commit widespread human rights abuses. My research suggests that the United States is investing in poor partners. 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. India had been an exception to the rule that capitalism comes before democracy. Annual Lecture on China. Others, such as Botswana, enjoy high levels of economic and social development. October 6, 2022. More Africans live under fully or partially authoritarian states today than at most points in the last two decades. While a large number of countries have In their book "Dictators and Dictatorships: Understanding Authoritarian Regimes and Their Leaders", authors Natasha M. Ezrow and Erica Frantz lay out five types of dictatorships: Power is obtained and maintained through military might. Nonetheless, the index provides an objective standard and vocabulary with which to assess and compare personal freedoms across Africa. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, African leaders complain about 'wave of coups'. The former Head of State says the continent cannot thrive politically, socially, and economically if Africans are subjected to despotism. Facebook alsostatedthat as part of its strategy, the Ministry of Information had been using "fake and duplicate accounts" for propaganda purposes. 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 Global Climate Agreements: Successes and Failures, Backgrounder Failing to counter crime and insurgency, some African leaders are seeking greater security involvement from the United States. "If it did, it was punished. West African leaders on Friday called an emergency summit on the situation in Burkina Faso, where the new military leader, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, told the nation in his first public address on Thursday night that he would return the country to constitutional order when the conditions are right., The resurgence of coups has alarmed the regions remaining civilian leaders. 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. Coups are contagious. WebUsing evidence from the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the countries involved in the Arab Spring, we argue that dictatorship in Africa serves a function akin to Myrdal's Addressing these issues will require grappling with long-standing grievances left untreated and often exacerbated by the poor, sometimes brutal governance that is all too common across the African continent. 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. by CFR.org Editors The governmentcriminalizedthe sharing of unofficial data and used the law to restrict news coverage of the outbreak and other matters in the run-up to the October 2020 presidential election, which Magufuli won through intimidation and fraud. Dictatorship Countries 2021 - New African Magazine 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. The rights of the people are typically suppressed in a dictatorship, sometimes to a great degree. 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 United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it an epidemic of coup dtats.. 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 But COVID-19 has given them greater leverage, providing further pretext for postponing elections in Somalia and Ethiopia, muzzling opposition figures in Uganda and Tanzania, and imposing restrictions [PDF] on media across the continent. 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. Buharis remarkable reversal is an indication of the security threat posed by groups such as Boko Haram that draw on the alienation of many Africans from their governments, in part the result of stalling or declining democracy. But while it is tempting to interpret the spate of coups as evidence that democracy in Africa is dying, that would be a mistake. Both the military and the public were outraged that their officers were not well-enough equipped or trained to withstand such an attack. This is understandable, as the terms are very similar. Africa 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. 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. Military Dictatorship: Definition and Examples 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. International powers insist that the military rulers should hold swift elections. June 2, 2022, Stopping Illegal Gun Trafficking Through South Florida, Blog Post 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. 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. Geography is not quite destiny, but similarly rated countries do tend to form clusters. In neighboring Guinea, some initially greeted the coup leader as a liberator, but many also shut themselves up at home, afraid for the future. Renewing America, Backgrounder Examples include the Personalist/Military dictatorship of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988 and the Single-Party/Military hybrid that controlled El Salvador from 1948 to 1984. To combat the trend, the United States and other partners should commit to the painstaking work of bolstering democratic institutions. Countdown to 2023: WHO report on global trans-fat elimination 2021 But billions of dollars in loans and aid were put on hold after the 2021 military coup. WebA military dictatorship is a type of dictatorship in which power is held by one or more military officers acting on behalf of the military. 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. November 8, 2022 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. ", Angelo Izama, a political consultant and journalist from Uganda, describesthe move rather as an "overreaction" rooted in deeply-held patriarchal beliefs. Why Sudan's conflict matters to the rest of the world | AP News
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