Associated Press/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump talks with reporters after receiving a briefing on Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019, in Washington.
- US President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that he believed Democrats initiating an impeachment inquiry were staging a "coup." But the impeachment inquiry is a baked-in process of the government - not a tool of hostile takeover.
- The 20th and 21st centuries have seen a number of military coups all around the world- like in Thailand, where military coups occur an average of every seven years.
- While military coups are actually quite rare, they do have some things in common, Nathaniel D.F Allen, assistant professor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told Insider. "Most military coups occur when things are not going well - during an economic downturn, mass protests over living conditions, and government corruption."
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US President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that he suspected Democrats in Congress of staging a coup against him by ordering ain impeachment inquiry regarding a whistleblower report about his dealings with Ukraine.
While Trump may see the institutional proceedings of the government as a hostile takeover of his power, the process of an impeachment inquiry follows the rules and norms of the government.
While not always hostile, a coup is a takeover of power outside the norms of political processes. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen a number of coups, and particularly military coups, in many African countries, as well as Turkey, Thailand, Pakistan, and in South America.
"One of the most important factors is popular unrest," Nathaniel D.F. Allen, assistant professor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told Insider via email.
"Most military coups occur when things are not going well - during an economic downturn, mass protests over living conditions, and government corruption."
A military coup is extremely unlikely to occur in the US for a number of reasons, including the high standard of living and balance of power between political and military forces; "Even in cases where it may have the capacity, militaries rarely act to overthrow popular leaders," Allen told Insider. But ensuring broad popular support and committing to good governance is a part of fending off a military overthrow, he said.
Read on to learn about military coups around the world.