Young people’s blocked aspirations, the legacy of the war on terror and international complacency in the face of ‘constitutional coups’ are some of the root causes behind recent military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. When gunfire reverberated outside the presidential palace in the capital of Guinea-Bissau last week, the events unfolding in the small West African coastal nation appeared to confirm the existence of a dangerous ‘domino effect’ ...