Burkina Faso: Unsteady Statehood In West Africa

Poor even by the standards of West Africa and landlocked at the edge of the Sahel, Burkina Faso—the “Land of Men of Dignity”—has been plagued by political instability since independence from France in 1960. The country has suffered five military coups, the last of which cost the life of the outspoken and charismatic leader Thomas Sankara, who had waged war on poverty, corruption, and illiteracy. Yet Burkina’s growth was surprisingly strong during the 1980s, as it made the best of its meager...