Abdi came to Israel as a guest of the Israel-Africa Institute. In conversation with Israel Hayom, he revealed Turkey conducts launch experiments in Eritrea with ballistic missile that can reach Israel, among other destinations.

"The main message for the State of Israel is that Israel cannot afford to stay out of Africa, out of the Red Sea arena, out of the western Indian Ocean. Many of Israel's strategic rivals are advancing very strongly on the continent right now," Abdi said.

He added, "Turkey signed a groundbreaking security cooperation agreement with Somalia. There are thousands of Turkish soldiers stationed there, and they are building a space base that will ultimately allow Turkey to improve the range of its ballistic missiles."

Abdi added that an area north of Mogadishu has been identified, where the Somali president announced Turkey received land for port development and a space base. "If I were Israel, I would definitely be worried."

Turkey, he said, has "blue water capabilities" – Turkish naval vessels patrol through the Suez Canal, down the Red Sea and along the Somali coast. "For the first time, Turkey is not just a Mediterranean power, but also a power in the Red Sea and in the western Indian Ocean."

Eugene Kandel, chairman of the Board of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, said at the conference, "Radical Islam operates in Africa too and tries to return Africa to conflict against the West. Israel must not let this happen."

Shiri Fein-Grossman, CEO of the Israel-Africa Relations Institute, said, "Israel can make a tremendous difference in Africa at a relatively low investment."

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In the Islamic textbooks, contradictory content was found – some call Jews "people of the book" and describe shared origins, but others call them "idol-worshipping and hypocrites." In the Christian books, claims were found about the collective guilt of Jews in Jesus' death. The Holocaust is mentioned only superficially, without reference to the Jewish identity of the victims, and the books contain incorrect maps describing "Palestine in the time of Christ" or describing Abraham's migration to "Palestine" instead of Canaan.

The problems are not limited to content about Jews. "Homosexualism and lesbianism" are described as "strange and immoral cultures," and women receive stereotypical treatment. Minority religions are described as "cults," and immigrants as "economic saboteurs."

Marcus Sheff, CEO of IMPACT-se, emphasized the importance of the findings. "Africa is the fastest-growing continent in the world, and Nigeria is its most populous country. The education that Nigerian children receive today will shape not only the future of the country, but the entire continent," he said. He added that when Israel works to expand its relations in Africa, it is important to understand how perceptions of Jews and Israel are formed among the younger generation.

Despite the criticism, the report also notes positive aspects in the Nigerian textbooks. Calls for mutual respect between religions, condemnation of gender violence and forced marriages, recognition of the Jewish-Igbo community in Nigeria, and a positive description of the Israeli parliamentary system as a model government alongside Britain were found.

The organization announced that it would work with policymakers in Nigeria to implement the report's recommendations, while emphasizing the importance of quality education for global understanding and international cooperation.

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Zimbabwe has ordered the culling of 200 elephants as the country grapples with an unprecedented drought leading to food shortages, according to a report by The Guardian. The government claims this move is necessary to manage the country's burgeoning elephant population.

Sithembiso Nyoni, Zimbabwe's environment minister, told Voice of America that the country has "more elephants than it needed." The government has instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the culling process in areas where elephants have clashed with humans, including Hwange, home to Zimbabwe's largest natural reserve.

Fulton Mangwanya, director general of ZimParks, explained that the 200 elephants would be hunted in conflict-prone areas. Zimbabwe is home to an estimated 100,000 elephants, the second-largest population globally after Botswana. Conservation efforts have led to Hwange housing 65,000 elephants, more than four times its capacity, according to ZimParks.

The decision comes as Zimbabwe, along with other southern African countries, faces severe drought conditions. Approximately 42% of Zimbabweans live in poverty, based on UN estimates, and authorities predict that about 6 million people will require food assistance during the upcoming lean season from November to March.

Minister Nyoni outlined plans for the culled elephants, stating, "We are having a discussion with ZimParks and some communities to do like what Namibia has done, so that we can cull the elephants and mobilize the women to maybe dry the meat, package it, and ensure that it gets to some communities that need the protein."

However, the decision has faced criticism from some quarters. Farai Maguwu, director of the nonprofit Centre for Natural Resource Governance, argued, "Government must have more sustainable eco-friendly methods to dealing with drought without affecting tourism." He warned that the cull "risk[s] turning away tourists on ethical grounds. The elephants are more profitable alive than dead."

Conversely, Chris Brown, CEO of the Namibian Chamber of Environment, defended the cull, saying elephants have a "devastating effect on habitat if they are allowed to increase continually, exponentially." He added, "They really damage ecosystems and habitats, and they have a huge impact on other species which are less iconic and therefore matter less in the eyes of the Eurocentric, urban armchair conservation people."

Zimbabwe last culled elephants in 1988. The current decision follows Namibia's recent announcement of culling over 700 wildlife animals, including 83 elephants, to cope with its worst drought in decades.

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A prehistoric "highway" used by dinosaurs to travel between Africa and South America has been discovered by paleontologists, according to new research reported by CNN.

The study, published by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, reveals that matching sets of dinosaur footprints found on both continents indicate a shared migration route that existed approximately 120 million years ago, before the two landmasses split apart.

Louis L. Jacobs, a paleontologist at Southern Methodist University in Texas and lead author of the study, explained the significance of the discovery. "One of the youngest and narrowest geological connections between Africa and South America was the elbow of northeastern Brazil nestled against what is now the coast of Cameroon along the Gulf of Guinea," Jacobs said. "The two continents were continuous along that narrow stretch, so that animals on either side of that connection could potentially move across it."

Researchers have identified over 260 dinosaur footprints from the Early Cretaceous Period in Brazil and Cameroon, now separated by more than 3,700 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of these fossilized prints were created by three-toed theropod dinosaurs, with a few likely belonging to sauropods or ornithischians, according to study coauthor Diana P. Vineyard, a research associate at SMU.

The footprints were preserved in mud and silt along ancient rivers and lakes that existed on the supercontinent Gondwana. As Africa and South America began to separate about 140 million years ago, the rifting process created ideal conditions for preserving these prehistoric traces.

A team of paleontologists found matching dinosaur footprints on what are now two different continents, separated by thousands of miles of ocean.

https://t.co/DgbJhJsUXj

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 26, 2024

 "Plants fed the herbivores and supported a food chain," Jacobs explained. "Muddy sediments left by the rivers and lakes contain dinosaur footprints, including those of meat-eaters, documenting that these river valleys could provide specific avenues for life to travel across the continents 120 million years ago."

The study authors found evidence of half-graben basins – elongated depressions formed by tectonic activity – in northeast Brazil's Borborema region and the Koum Basin in northern Cameroon. These basins contained not only dinosaur tracks but also ancient river and lake sediments and fossilized pollen, painting a picture of a lush, tropical environment.

While it's challenging to identify specific dinosaur species from footprints alone, the tracks provide valuable insights into dinosaur behavior and movement patterns. "Dinosaur tracks are not rare, but unlike the bones usually found, footprints are the proof of dinosaur behavior, how they walked, ran or otherwise, who they walked with, what environment they walked through, what direction they were going, and where they were when they were doing it," Jacobs noted.

The discovery of this prehistoric migration route sheds light on how continental drift influenced the evolution and distribution of dinosaur species. As the continents separated, the break in genetic continuity likely drove evolutionary changes among previously connected populations.

The research builds on decades of work, including initial discoveries of dinosaur tracks in Cameroon in the late 1980s. Jacobs and his colleague, Ismar de Souza Carvalho, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, have been studying dinosaur movements from the African and Brazilian perspectives, respectively.

"We wanted to put new and evolving geological and paleontological evidence together to tell a story more specifically of where and why and when dispersals between the continents happened," Jacobs said, highlighting the collaborative nature of the research.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the current outbreak of a more severe and deadly strain of mpox (monkeypox), as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

It seems to spread more easily than previous strains, with a mortality rate of about 10% compared to less than 1% for the virus responsible for the 2022 global outbreak.

As of June 2024, there were over 14,000 Mpox cases and 524 deaths in the DRC, with women and children under 15 being the most affected. The number of cases this year has exceeded the total from last year.

From January 2022 to June 2024, there were 99,176 confirmed Mpox cases in 116 countries, resulting in 208 deaths. The WHO noted the presence of different virus strains in various countries, posing challenges for healthcare workers.

The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already declared the Mpox situation in the region a public health emergency of continental security.

In 2022, the United Nations health agency had declared a global health emergency for an Mpox outbreak that had spread to many countries, primarily affecting gay and bisexual men worldwide with a less deadly variant, clade IIb.

The WHO urged vaccine manufacturers to submit applications for emergency use of a Mpox vaccine.

Mpox is a viral disease that can be transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or materials. Symptoms include skin rashes, swollen lymph nodes, fever, body aches, headache, and weakness. Skin lesions filled with fluid may appear on various body parts and can vary in number before drying up and falling off.

Sources: Washington Post, BBC, WSJ, Forbes, Die Welt, Der Spiegel, The Epoch Times, DGABC, El Mañana, O Tempo, Xataka, La Voz de Michoacán, Razon, Correio24horas, FA Notícias, El Economista, Istoé, Agência Brasil, Proceso, Times of India.

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Mpox outbreak in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern, according to reporting from the BBC. This decision comes as hundreds have been killed by the highly contagious disease, formerly known as monkeypox, during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The emergence of a new clade of #Mpox, its rapid spread in eastern #DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying.

On top of outbreaks of other Mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it's clear that a coordinated international… pic.twitter.com/u2DSV6fitj

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 14, 2024

 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed grave concern about the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond. "A coordinated international response is essential to stop this outbreak and save lives," he stated to the BBC.

The current outbreak, caused by the more lethal Clade 1 strain of Mpox, has resulted in over 13,700 cases and at least 450 deaths in the DRC since the start of the year. The virus has subsequently been detected in other African countries, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya, and Rwanda.

Mpox, which is transmitted through close contact, such as sex and skin-to-skin interaction, causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions. It can be fatal, with four in 100 cases leading to death. While outbreaks can be controlled with vaccines, these are typically only available for high-risk individuals or those in close contact with infected persons.

Scientists are particularly alarmed by a new variant, Clade 1b, which emerged around September last year due to mutations. This variant has been described by one scientist as "the most dangerous yet" and is spreading rapidly.

The declaration of Mpox as a global health emergency is expected to accelerate research, funding, and the implementation of international public health measures. Dr Josie Golding from the Wellcome Trust called it a "strong signal," while Dr Boghuma Titanji of Emory University said the move "underscores the gravity of the crisis." Professor Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network at the University of Oxford, said that the declaration was "important and timely" but noted that the emergence of a new strain meant there were "many unknowns that need to be addressed."

This current outbreak follows a previous global health emergency declared in July 2022 for the milder Clade 2 strain, which spread to nearly 100 countries and resulted in over 87,000 cases and 140 deaths.

On Tuesday, scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also declared a public health emergency. The organization's head, Jean Kaseya, warned that the current outbreak could spiral out of control without immediate containment efforts. "We must be proactive and aggressive in our efforts to contain and eliminate this threat," Kaseya stated.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) is evaluating whether to declare the current mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) due to a significant increase in cases and deaths compared to the previous year.

The outbreak saw over 27,000 cases and about 1,100 deaths, mostly affecting children under 15 in the DRC and neighboring countrie.

It is caused by a new clade (1b) of the mpox virus, resulting in more severe illness and higher fatality rates compared to the earlier variant that spread globally in 2022.

Two suspected cases of mpox were reported in Mombasa and Kilifi, Kenya, with one case traced through contacts of an index patient, a truck driver who had travelled from Uganda.

The Kenyan Ministry of Health dispatched medical experts, enhanced surveillance, and advised preventive measures, while the Deputy Director-General denied reports of new confirmed cases, stating that contact tracing and sample testing are ongoing.

Mpox is transmitted to humans through infected persons, animals, or primates, and spreads through close and skin-to-skin contact, as well as infected respiratory droplets from sneezing and coughing.

This mpox outbreak is notably larger than previous ones, with spread to unaffected provinces and matching the total cases reported in the prior year, involving over 14,000 reported cases and 511 deaths in the DRC.

In May 2022, mpox infections rose globally, mainly impacting gay and bisexual men due to the Clade IIb subclade. Since September 2023, a different strain, the Clade Ib subclade, has been surging in the DRC, with the outbreak spreading to previously unaffected provinces and neighboring countries like Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The CDC and WHO have issued alerts, convened expert groups, and are urging clinicians to be vigilant for mpox in individuals who have traveled to affected areas.

The WHO is working to improve access to mpox vaccines and has released funding to ramp up response in affected countries, while the CDC has issued a health alert and recommends vigilance for mpox cases, especially in patients with recent travel to affected regions.

The WHO Director-General emphasized the need for a comprehensive response involving communities, released funds to support the effort, and has called for more funding, international assistance, vaccination, and public awareness campaigns to combat the virus.

A previous mpox outbreak led to cases in various countries, resulting in over 87,000 confirmed cases and 1,100 deaths worldwide. The current mpox outbreak involves a different virus variant with a historically higher fatality rate, impacting countries in central and eastern Africa.

The outbreak involves cases with varying fatality rates based on age, with young children being more susceptible to severe outcomes.

Sources: Newsweek, Ars Technica, Live Science, Al Jazeera, Nation, The Straits Times, Times of India, Goa Chronicle, The Health Site, Times Now News, BNO News, STAT

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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Preserving ancient Jewish traditions

Jewish Ethiopians claim a few different origins stories. Some believe they are descendants of the lost tribe of Dan, which the Assyrians exiled before the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians. Others think they come from Yemenite or Egyptian Jews. Others say they descend from the Israelites who accompanied King Solomon's son and the Queen of Sheba back to Ethiopia. While the origin story of Ethiopian Jews remains unclear, their courage, faith, and love for the Jewish homeland, along with the daring of the Mossad and the activism of North American Jews, resulted in the return of thousands of Jews to Israel.

The Beta Israel, as they call themselves, are proud of their rich heritage, which they have preserved for over a thousand years in the mountains of East Africa. Isolated from other Jewish communities, they believed they were the only Jews in the world, continuing to observe Shabbat, Kosher, and Jewish holidays, even unaware that the First Temple had been destroyed.

Persecution and resistance

When Christianity swept through Ethiopia, Beta Israel's newly Christian neighbors tried everything to destroy the Jewish community, from massacres and forced conversions to enslavement and isolation. They were labeled "Falasha," meaning invader or stranger, despite their ancient roots that predated the advent of Christianity. The Beta Israel fought back, with legends of Jewish power like the story of the mighty Queen Judith, who sacked Christian kingdoms. However, they ultimately lost a major battle, and many chose death over slavery or forced baptism.

The struggle for recognition

Despite Beta Israel's efforts to return to Zion, they faced resistance from some in the Israeli government who doubted their Jewishness. It was only when Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef declared the Ethiopian Jews to be fully Jewish and the descendants of the lost tribe of Dan that the tides began to turn. But even then, the situation in Ethiopia was growing increasingly hostile, with the Beta Israel facing harassment, monitoring, and torture if they tried to leave.

The Mossad's daring rescue mission

Ethiopian Jewish activist Ferede Aklum spoke out against the systematic persecution his community faced. He was forced to flee to Sudan, where he made contact with Israeli Mossad agents. He hatched a plan with them to bring his community to Sudan, where they would stay in refugee camps posing as Christian Ethiopian refugees from the Ethiopian Civil War until the Mossad could secretly bring them to the Holy Land.

Using an abandoned diving resort on the Sudanese coast as a cover for their operation, Mossad agents successfully evacuated 8,000 refugees to an Israeli ship waiting off the coast. The grueling trek through the desert to the resort left many dead from dehydration, starvation, and attacks from hostile forces along the way. Parents buried children and children buried parents.

When the diving resort cover was blown, Ethiopian Jews who were waiting in the Sudanese refugee camps were stranded for months and about 5,000 died of starvation and disease. Mossad managed to smuggle some Beta Israel in boxes labeled "US diplomatic mail" and were airlifted out of Sudan.

Demonstrations and pressure

Once in Israel, they became known as "orphans of circumstance" as many had families still in Ethiopia that could not make the arduous journey through the desert. Beta Israel members in Israel and Jews in North America demonstrated for years, demanding that the Israeli government save all Jews stuck in Ethiopia.

In 1984, following the pressure of the US, the Sudanese government allowed the emigration of 7,200 Beta Israel refugees. These two immigration waves were named Operation Moses and Operation Joshua.

In 1991, for 36 hours, 34 El Al passenger planes, with their seats removed to maximize passenger capacity, brought 14,000 more refugees to Israel to reunite with their families. The heroic evacuation was dubbed Operation Solomon.

The struggle continues

The story of the Ethiopian Aliyah is often presented as a triumph, a testament to the Mossad's cleverness and the Israeli government's determination to bring every Jew home. But this version of the story leaves out the crucial contribution of the Beta Israel themselves, who organized, protested, and sacrificed everything to make it to the Holy Land. Even today, the struggle continues, as thousands of Ethiopian Jews wait in Ethiopia for their chance to come home.

The story of the Beta Israel is complex and multifaceted, full of broken promises, secret agreements, and the unwavering determination of an ancient community. It is a story of courage, endurance, and deep faith, as well as the struggle for Jewish unity and the ongoing efforts to build a society that embraces all Jews without discrimination. As the Jewish state continues to grapple with these challenges, the story of the Ethiopian Aliyah remains a powerful reminder of the resilience and perseverance of the Jewish people.

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A rubber boat washed up on a beach in Israel on Sunday with no one on board, only what appeared to be the belongings of would-be migrants.

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Israeli authorities said they found the dinghy along the Mediterranean coast near the city of Netanya with nothing but a messy pile of personal items, food, water and travel documents, including three from Somalia.

Video: Violent demonstrations among immigrants erupt in Tel Aviv / Credit: Israel Police

Police said they were searching the waters nearby for signs of survivors and released a photograph of the boat. What looked like clothing, an air pump and several makeshift, inflatable lifebuoys were among the items that covered the boat's floor.

The travel documents are still being investigated, the police said. According to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration, more than 187,000 people crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, and the group has recorded 2,093 deaths along the central Mediterranean route.

The migrants often make the perilous crossing in small, unstable boats. Many come from Africa, fleeing conflict or in search of a better life in Europe.

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On screen, a group of officers in fatigues appears. One of them sits by the microphone and announces that the serving president has been ousted and that the government agencies have been disbanded or come under its command. Then the military announces that it is taking control due to the failures of the civilian officials or because they have breached the will of the people. 

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This is, more or less, how a coup in Africa unfolds. Over the past three years, there have been quite a few: Mali, Burkina Faso, and just in the past six months – Niger and Gabon.

Sub-Saharan Africa's image as a region where nothing is stable, except for instability itself, has been reinforced by these developments. It's not just because of coups; it has also become synonymous with dictatorships, with this taking center stage in Israel when groups of Eritrean immigrants who supported and opposed the brutal regime in the African country clashed on the streets of Tel Aviv.

In light of this state of affairs, you could be forgiven for ignoring the fact that the continent has a whole host of stable democracies. 

According to the latest report by the think tank Freedom House, out of 54 countries in Africa, only six were considered free as of 2022: Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia, and São Tomé and Príncipe. A few others were on the path to democracy, including Benin, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia

The V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) report – which uses a host of indices on the scope of democracy in the world as measured by the V-Dem Institute – showed that in Africa there was only one full-fledged (liberal) democracy in 2022 – Seychelles, but electoral democracies like Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, São Tomé and Príncipe were on the verge of being democracies in full.

So what is it that makes it possible for African continents to survive? Israel Hayom spoke with Dr. Joseph Siegle, the director of research at the US-based National Defense University's Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

"I'm reluctant to say that there are universal features among these countries contributing to their relatively better democratic governance performance," Siegle says. 

"Moreover, all have had their ups and downs," he continues.

Video: The aftermath of the coup in Gabon / Credit: Social media

"The democratic path is not linear. This is common across the world for low- and middle-income countries prior to consolidating their democratic systems. Even among wealthier established democracies, as we see, these norms can be challenged.

"That said, a couple of governance features bear noting. First, is that most of these countries (with the exception of Ghana and Nigeria) have not had a history of military governments. They've thus been able to avoid the civil-military competition for power and complex transitions away from military governments that 35 African countries have had to navigate. These countries also have a relatively stronger commitment to the rule of law. This has enabled and empowered a shift to constitutionalism and the checks and balances inherent in a democratic system. This has facilitated power-sharing arrangements that have promoted compromises to resolve competing interests. Consistent with the commitment to the rule of law, for the most part, all of these countries have avoided leaders who have tried to evade term limits. In the case of Senegal, and some feared Zambia, if Lungu had remained in power, when leaders did test the term limit rule, they faced strong protests and pushback from citizens. So, parallel to the emergence of these institutions of accountability, these countries have been able to nurture a culture of democratic values among their citizens. As a result of these governance features, these countries have also realized more robust and consistent economic growth and social development than their peers elsewhere on the continent."

Dr. Irit Beck, the head of the African Studies program at Tel Aviv University notes that there is a cluster of democratic states in the southern part of the continent. "This cluster attests perhaps to the degree of post-apartheid South Africa's influence," she says. "South Africa has shown that democracy can work."

Then there is the special case is Senegal. According to Prof. Ruth Ginio from the Department of General History at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, this has more to do with the country's cultural and political heritage.  

"During the revolutions of 1848 in Europe, known as the Springtime of Nations, France naturalized the residents of its four oldest colonies in the territory of Senegal," Ginio, whose field of research includes French colonialism in West Africa, says, noting that the French move to grant citizenship to meant that they "could vote for local assembly in Dakar and even send a delegate to the National Assembly in Paris. After France ultimately conquered all of Senegal, millions would be denied rights, but there remained an elite who understood what democracy and a free press are, as well as things that didn't exist in any other African country." 

She adds, "I think there has been a lasting influence because democracy is something that you have to learn. Democracy in Senegal has become part of its nationalism, part of its national pride. People are aware of the importance of having their voice heard and that the government cannot act on a whim, as was the case when the current president, Macky Sall, tried to extend his term."

Another feature that makes democracy in Senegal stronger is the separation of religion and state, which can also be traced to the French constitution. Even Islam in Senegal has its proper place. "The Sufi orders, which emphasize the personal connection with God, wield a lot of political influence, and they strongly oppose fundamentalist Islam," Prof. Ginio says. "When they alleged that one of the presidential candidates, Ousmane Sonko, was leaning toward fundamentalism, he quickly issued a vehement denial. As far as the people of Senegal are concerned, Islam should be moderate."

According to the V-Dem indices, Africa was leading the relative number of countries undergoing democratization. Out of 14 such countries in the world, five are in Africa. However, the opposing trend away from democracy, which has been noted in 42 countries worldwide, is shared by 12 African countries. "Africa is different in that democratization processes began relatively late, and this has its impact on how they are perceived," Beck says.

She adds, "South Africa may have become a model, but since the end of apartheid, the same party has been in power, and corruption has tarnished many of the achievements of democracy.

"In Nigeria, there are free elections every four years, but there are also serious security problems due to terrorist organizations in the north and the rampant crime in Lagos. This has had people wonder if democracy has delivered on their expectations. In many cases, the military coups get popular support because of the perception that democracy failed to fulfill its purpose."

But does military rule bring about positive change? "I would say that we have to be careful not to attribute a more altruistic rationale to the military juntas that have seized power in the seven African countries (and counting) since 2020," Dr. Siegle says, adding that "in every case, this was about the military seizing power for power's sake, in every case these countries have had a long legacy of military government."

According to Siegle, "In some instances, such as Sudan and Chad, the coups were about perpetuating that power. In other cases, they were about reasserting military authority after a brief move toward civilian, democratic government (such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger). In Gabon, it was about a highly politicized military leadership that profited handsomely from the Bongo regime using the pretext of his unpopularity to take over the vast patronage networks themselves. Importantly, in the cases of all the democratizers (Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger), economic and development indicators were significantly more robust during the period of democratic government.  Therefore, the assertions by the military juntas in each case that they had to intervene are purely self-serving. That's not to say that each of these countries didn't have challenges. They are among some of the poorest in the world. But the relative progress they had made compared to their periods of military rule is noteworthy. Similarly, the security environments in both Mali and Burkina Faso, the locus of violent extremist activity in the Sahel, have accelerated since the coups. There are twice as many violent extremist events and three times as many fatalities in these two countries since 2021. So, the security rationale for the military takeovers is also specious. So, these coups are about special forces units and presidential guards seizing power because they can, nothing more."

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