By Sergio Luiz Cruz Aguilar
This is part of a special issue sponsored by the World Society Foundation: A Role for Europe in the Global Arena.
This paper discusses the 2022 military coups in Burkina Faso, where the European Union had been actively engaged in mission and assistance programs at the time. Based on documents, secondary sources, international indexes, and newspaper articles, I argue that, while EU assistance fulfilled its role in improving military capacity in Burkina Faso, it may also have failed to support stability, security, and good governance in the country. The findings highlight that two key factors behind the coups d’état were the presence of competing non-EU actors, whose assistance and influence undermined the EU’s efforts to improve military capabilities, accountability, and security governance, as well as anti-former colonizer sentiment among coup plotters.
Coming soon.
