Are Military Coups Coming Back?

Coups Making A Comeback? -- Foreign Policy

While, for now unsubstantiated, coup rumors sweep China, a very real coup is underway in Mali. Renegade troups have appeared on state television to announce that they have taken power away from President Amadou Toumani Toure, who they say inadequately supported them in the fight against an ongoing insurgency by Tuareg rebels in the country's north. The army has apparently shut the borders and the whereabouts of Toure, who has been in power since 2002, are unknown. Soldiers are reportedly looting the presidential palace.

Twitter's probably the best way to stay on top of the fast-moving story at the moment. Alex Thurston's Sahel Blog has some good suggestions of feeds to follow as well as some valuable quick analysis.

Read more ....

My Comment: In the past .... when the military initiated a coup .... the first thing that they always targeted were the radio and TV stations. The priority (then) was to always control the message .... which was easy since these media platforms were always few in number and easy to shut down.

Today ... it is a different world. People are better educated, and with everyone becoming plugged into the world wide web .... to sustain and control the media message from a coup is far more difficult .... if not impossible. By being unable to control the media .... the situation will then become fluid .... and for the coup makers .... very dangerous.