Governance, Law & Institutions

Critical analysis of a disturbing but strategic issue for the future of the continent This text does not result from a morbid fascination for violence, nor from a condescending look at Africa. It responds to an intellectual and political necessity: to name the facts, to organize them, and to draw lucid lessons from them at a time when ...

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In many states weakened by corruption, institutional failure and the exhaustion of the social pact, coups d'état emerged as brutal but often applauded ruptures. Acclaimed for expelling discredited regimes, the putschists then claim legitimacy based on popular membership and elections that they organize themselves. But what is this...

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In many African countries, recent political transitions reveal a striking paradox: the more people aspire to a frank break with authoritarian regimes that sternize, the more the dynamics expected to open up a new horizon of emancipation seem to precipitate societies into strengthened forms of domination. Young people, in particular, invest in coups d'état ...

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Guinea-Bissau remains one of the most striking paradoxes on the African continent: a territory with a prodigious natural heritage, immense agricultural potential and scarce tourist wealth, but a prisoner of chronic instability that prevents it from turning these assets into real development. Since its independence ripped out in pain, this small African state of ...

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In much of Africa, political life seems to be trapped in a relentless logic where obscure manoeuvres, personal rivalries, clientelism and survival strategies often prevail over vision, competence and public interest. Far from being a mere cultural trait or a fatality, this phenomenon results from a chain of historical, institutional, socio-economic and ...

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When man finds himself confronted with the unknown, the inexplicable, or a reality beyond his understanding, he has an instinctive need to restore meaning where chaos reigns. This reflex, as ancient as humanity itself, goes through times, cultures and educational levels. Because in the face of unpredictable anxiety, thought ...

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