ColumnsOpinionPoliticsWest AfricaMali’s Amadou Touré and the Conundrum of African Leadership
Amadou Touré, coup maker, coup victim, military ruler, and eventually civilian chief of state in Mali, died last week in Istanbul at the age of seventy-two. Touré dominated Mali’s governance for some twenty years and, in death, is being praised as a “soldier of democracy.” Following his successful 1991 coup against Moussa Traoré, military ruler for thirteen years, Touré orchestrated a transition to elections and civilian government. In 2002 he was elected president and, in 2007, reelected....










