International records / OpenAlex research

The decline of military government in the third world

Recent events, especially in Ghana and Nigeria, have led some commentators to conclude that we are witnessing a decline of military governments in the Third World. How far is this true, if at all? Few would dispute that the decade of the 1960s saw a spectacular rise in the frequency of military government. In the newly independent countries of Africa a wave of military coups overthrew the independence constitutions and established military rulers of varying ranks and degrees of stability. In the Middle East, political tensions between states strengthened the armed forces as institutions within…