Does the military have the right to hold power? What are the dangers of a military dictatorship for Ukraine?
It is unlikely that you would want to spend your entire life in Africa. Living there is challenging.
However, it could be better. Africa is incredibly rich in natural resources. It has a large population with a significant proportion of youth, so the painful issues of depopulation and aging that we face are not a threat to them. If you are not a racist, you probably do not believe that Africans are lazy and unintelligent.
So why do Africans live poorly?
Numerous scholars have received Nobel Prizes for their research into why intelligent and hardworking individuals in resource-rich countries live in poverty. In the past year of 2024, the prize was awarded for extensive studies on the role of institutions by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson; a popular presentation of their ideas can be found in their books "Why Nations Fail" and "The Narrow Corridor."
However, an even more fundamental work is by another Nobel laureate in economics, Douglas North, titled "Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History," co-authored with John Wallis and Barry Weingast.
The book illustrates how humanity has struggled for millennia to subordinate military power to civilian authority, and only when this was finally achieved did social development begin.
Because otherwise, power always belongs to those with weapons. More precisely, to those who command the people with weapons. They may coincidentally be professionals in civilian governance, morally impeccable, and value-stable. But more likely, it is the opposite.
The peoples of Africa have not managed to resolve this issue. Therefore, most African countries are led by military commanders, until they are replaced by other commanders in leadership positions.
This is why everything is difficult in Africa. The same is true in many countries in Asia and Latin America.
In contrast, in Europe and America, things are better because military commanders are subordinate to democratically elected civilian authorities. When they wish to take power themselves, they leave the military and run for office.
Former soldiers elected Eisenhower, who had their unwavering trust.
Recently, many commentators have argued that the military has the right to seize power if they disapprove of civilian governance.
This is exactly what is constantly happening in Africa and other mentioned regions.
We do not need to go there.
The author expresses a personal opinion that may not align with the editorial stance. The responsibility for the published content in the "Opinions" section lies with the author.