The answer is a flat “no.” The chart below plots annual counts of successful coups from 1946 through the first half of 2011, using data compiled by the Center for Systemic Peace. As the chart clearly shows, the incidence of coups has fallen substantially in the post-Cold War period and remains historically low. (NB: Those figures don’t adjust for the large increase in the number of countries worldwide in the past 20 years. Against that growing baseline, the rate of successful coups has fallen even further.)
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
IRCPPS in the Links: Are Military Coups Making a Comeback?
Dart-Throwing Chimp runs the numbers:
