The Role of the Economic Community of West African States in Managing the 2020 Mali Political Crisis

This study examines the role of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in responding to the political and military crises in Mali following the military coups of August 2020 and May 2021, and assesses the effectiveness of ECOWAS diplomatic and sanctions instruments in restoring constitutional order. Mali's political instability, driven by the interplay of the Tuareg rebellion in the North, jihadist insurgency, and governance failures, represents the most complex ECOWAS crisis management challenge of the recent decade. Using a descriptive analytical design, the study reviews ECOWAS summit declarations, sanctions committee reports, African Union mediation documents, and secondary academic literature published between 2021 and 2024. The Regional Security Complex Theory and the Democratic Governance Framework provide the analytical lenses. Findings indicate that ECOWAS's initial imposition of comprehensive economic sanctions following the second coup succeeded in pressuring the military junta to accept a transitional governance timeline, though subsequent delays demonstrated the limits of ECOWAS enforcement capacity. The junta's alliance with Russian private military contractors introduced a new geopolitical variable that complicated ECOWAS mediation and contributed to Mali's eventual exit from the bloc. Keywords: ECOWAS, Mali crisis, regional security, military coup, democratic governance.