Tag Archives: coup

“Hands off my junta!”

Posted on August 22, 2020 by brucewhitehouse

Or, Why the international community should show post-IBK Mali some love The parallels between this week’s events in Bamako and those of March 2012 keep coming. On top of the fact that both began as mutinies at the Soundiata Keita … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Taking it to the streets

Posted on August 19, 2020 by brucewhitehouse

Yes, Mali’s 2020 coup looked a lot like the previous one eight years ago. Frustration had been mounting, both among the general public and among the military. The army had been taking too many casualties up north. Troops in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

The floating hippo

Posted on April 15, 2013 by brucewhitehouse

Author’s note: a few months ago, historians Baz Lecocq (Ghent University) and Gregory Mann (Columbia University) assembled a multinational, interdisciplinary team of Mali scholars to write a comprehensive analysis of that country’s crisis. In all, eight researchers specializing in diverse … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Mali’s coup, one year on

Posted on March 22, 2013 by brucewhitehouse

It was a year ago this morning that we woke up in Bamako to a changed reality. Soldiers at a barracks outside the city had mutinied against their commanders, taken over state broadcasting and the presidential palace, and toppled the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

90 days of disaster

Posted on June 21, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

Several weeks ago I had an e-mail exchange with an acquaintance about events in Mali. I was uneasy about the way the military had suspended the country’s existing political institutions. I wrote, “the junta’s repeated attempts to ‘push the reset … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Bamako’s lone pollster strikes again

Posted on June 1, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

You almost never see opinion polls conducted in Bamako. Yes, there are periodic nation-wide social surveys like the Afrobarometer, which studies attitudes toward government and the economy, and the Demographic and Health Surveys, which ask respondents about fertility, family planning … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

A deal, but will it stick?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

By Sunday morning those of us in Bamako had all heard the news that broke late Saturday night: after weeks of deadlock, negotiators from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had reached an agreement with Mali’s CNRDRE junta, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Fears, foreigners, and falsehoods

Posted on May 2, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

Although the day started out on a note of calm routine, the climate in Bamako has been tense since late morning, for reasons that remain unclear. As with previous days of unrest, our first warning sign came from our son’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 39 Comments

Strange days in Bamako

Posted on May 1, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

8:00 a.m. GMT: I thought I heard more shooting, but it was just thunder. A rainstorm blew in about half an hour ago. ORTM is broadcasting the same kind of folklore recordings it was playing the morning of March 22, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 64 Comments

Gunfire across the Niger, again

Posted on April 30, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

6:40 p.m. GMT: For the first time since the coup last month, we hear the sound of shots coming from the north. So far some heavy machine gun fire and booms. The gunfire lasts about two minutes then falls silent. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 39 Comments