Political instability in Africa’s Sahel region is tied to rising extremism

Another international story we’re following is the coup in Burkina Faso. A mutiny of soldiers in the West African nation ousted the democratically elected president and said that the Constitution has been suspended. It’s the fifth country in Africa’s Sahel region, which stretches along the northern part of the continent, to experience a coup within a year. This raises questions about why and why now and whether this political instability foretells other problems in a region which has also seen a rise in Islamic extremism. We called Andrew Lebovich for this. He is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, specializing in the Sahel region of Africa. Welcome. Thank you for joining us.