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During Congressional hearings on the January 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol, John Bolton, a former White House national security advisor, admitted to planning coups in foreign countries. Bolton’s remarks explicitly marked a diversion from America’s typical position of lacking acknowledgement of the country's role abroad.
A coup refers to a forceful, and often violent, overthrow of an existing government by a group. Usually, the overthrowing involves participation of an army, often playing a decisive role. There is no explicit position in international law regarding this, as democracy is not a prerequisite in international law.
US law, however, mandates that the government seizes providing foreign assistance, namely aid, following a coup facilitated by a military force. According to the legal provisions, aid can be resumed once a democratic election takes place. The application of this regulation has been inconsistent.
One such example is the case of Egypt. In 2013, a coup in Egypt ousted former President Mohammed Morsi, who was democratically elected. Morsi was replaced by Army Chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who continues in power.
Violently suppressed riots broke out across the country, leading to the death of hundreds and the arrest of thousands. The coup led to Egypt’s suspension from the African Union (AU), as per their regulations. The US refused to consider Morsi’s ousting a coup and continued providing uninterrupted foreign assistance to Egypt.
One of the most famous instances of US foreign intervention is the country's role in organizing the violent overthrow of democratically-elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953, an incident which continues to mark contemporary Iran-US relations.
What’s now known as British Petroleum (BP) was formerly known as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Following World War II, the British economy was in shambles. Protecting British oil interests was one of the country’s top priorities.
The Iranian parliament voted to nationalize the country’s oil industry, while still committing to divide profits with Britain, but ending foreign ownership. With US assistance, the British mobilized on every front to attempt to pressure Iran into relinquishing control of its own reserves, utilizing economic pressure and taking over a refinery.
Then-UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill joined forces with then-US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to oust Mossadegh. The coup was carefully staged to transfer power primarily to Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, then-Iranian shah.
Mosaddegh was tried for treason and kept under house arrest for 14 years, until his eventual death. The Iranian revolution overthrew the shah in 1979, seeing Pahlavi as a Western puppet, ultimately ending the country’s historical monarchy. The US denied its role in the coup for years.
In the region, the United States has facilitated, in some form or another, a number of coups. In the 1960s alone, the US assisted in the coup against the Imam regime in Yemen, the Ba'athist coup of 1963 in Iraq, the coup by Hafez Al-Assad (father of current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad), Gaddafi’s takeover of Libya, among others.
Many years later, following the September 11 attacks , the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan led to the tragic death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, some studies reporting the figures to be well over one million. The US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan permanently destabilized the region, causing a mass exodus of its people, economic damage without real options for reprieve, and a breadth of destruction that will continue to ripple for decades to come.
The story of US intervention in Latin America is not so different from the impact it left on the Middle East. By the 1900s, there was barely a Latin American country that wasn’t impacted by US intervention in a period referred to as the Banana Wars.
In Guatemala, the 1954 ousting of then-President Jacobo Árbenz provoked decades of civil war due to brutal regimes that committed heinous crimes against humanity, including the genocide of the Mayan Ixil population. The horrors that Guatemalans suffered, particularly the indigenous population, were perpetrated with the help of US mercenaries. The effects continue to be felt today.
In Brazil, the US-backed coup of 1964 led to Castelo Branco’s forces overthrowing Goulart, with American ships stationed off the coast ready to intervene. The ousting made way for decades of a prolonged dictatorship period in the country. Mass arrests, torture, and killings decorated the over two decades of military dictatorship that followed.
Nine years following the Brazilian coup, the US successfully staged the military overthrow of Chile's then-President Salvador Allende. Sometimes referred to as "the other September 11," the US facilitated the military takeover of the country by General Augusto Pinochet, leading to the deaths of thousands and the enforced disappearances and torture of tens of thousands more.
Mostly recently, following controversy surrounding the 2018 Venezuelan elections, the US publicly backed oppositional leader Juan Guaidó’s call for a military coup to remove reelected President Nicolas Maduro. The attempt to remove Maduro was a failure, but not without causing damage and division. The US’ role rang familiar for many around the world.
Across the Atlantic, US interventions throughout Africa have shaped the continent’s political landscape, and America's efforts continue to attempt to secure strategic political and economic benefits. Between supporting European powers during colonization and continuing to support coups when beneficial to American interests, the list of incidents is lengthy.
US support for apartheid South Africa remained steadfast despite the growing calls from the international community to topple the regime. Then-US President Ronald Reagan had even gone so far as to claim that there was no segregation in South Africa during the height of the apartheid era. Reagan promised to veto any attempt at sanctioning the country or restricting aid flow.
One of the most famous cases is the role of the US in Congo. In 1960, Patrice Lumumba was elected the first prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, accompanying its independence from Belgium following a brutal colonial regime.
Lumumba’s close relationship with the Soviet Union made him a target for US operatives. Several failed assassination attempts preceded the US-backed coup that occurred just four months following Lumumba’s election. Colonel Mobutu Sese Seko overthrew Lumumba’s short-lived rule. Lumumba was imprisoned and executed soon after.
Multiple coups followed Lumumba’s death. Separatists that supported the former prime minister formed the Free Republic of the Congo to the east, ultimately crushed by regime forces several years later. Seko’s rule led to several years of military dictatorship. He was only overthrown in 1997. The country remains in shambles today.
In Asia, the US led a number of devastating interventions that changed the course of the region. Similar to most of its interventions during the Cold War era, the US remained steadfast in pouring funding and military resources into any and all anti-communist regimes it could influence, following a ‘domino theory’ strategy in the region.
Its wars in Korea and Vietnam are likely the most well-known globally. US military involvement in Vietnam alone, preceding the 1975 Fall of Saigon, provoked the deaths of two million civilians. The repercussions of this devastation remain today.
The Korean War, which started five years before the Vietnam War, led to the deaths of nearly two million military personnel and civilians. The absolute devastation of the war not only ensured permanent US presence in South Korea, but it divided families across borders and created an astounding orphan crisis, which led to a huge surge in Korean adoptees.
The long-standing American legacy of interventionist policy has been critiqued around the world. The ousting of democratically-elected (and not) leaders remains a mark on America’s history and its contemporary strategy in a number of geopolitical locations. Lasting instability is, unfortunately, part of US reputation in several regions.
Sources: (Al Jazeera) (Council on Foreign Affairs) (The George Washington University) (Zinn Education Project) (Brown University Library) (The Brazilian Report) (National Security Archive) (NPR) (BBC) (Stanford University) (Foreign Policy)
In West Africa alone, the United States has assisted 12 coups since 2008. Countries like Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Chad, and Guinea have all had some influence of varying degrees of US intervention, support, or training.
The interventions in Latin America resulted in an enduring tension between Central and South American countries and the US. American intervention in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina, as well as the colonization of Puerto Rico, have fostered critical outlooks toward US foreign policy.
While the US’ designation of coups and subsequent decisions regarding foreign assistance is sometimes inconsistent, and the threat of such cutoff is often unclear in terms of its potential impact, what is evident is that the US has a significant role in other countries' politics.
America's long-standing foreign policy strategies have been a driving force of global political dynamics. US economic and geopolitical interests have often relied on both direct and covert interventions, in addition to coup attempts. CIA-backed attempts to support regimes favorable to American interests have led to the undermining of democratic decision-making in different nations, often resulting in economic and political instability, as well as a history of human rights violations.
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US-supported coup attempts
Global interventions to support American interests
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America's long-standing foreign policy strategies have been a driving force of global political dynamics. US economic and geopolitical interests have often relied on both direct and covert interventions, in addition to coup attempts. CIA-backed attempts to support regimes favorable to American interests have led to the undermining of democratic decision-making in different nations, often resulting in economic and political instability, as well as a history of human rights violations.
Curious to know more? Then click through this gallery.