Supporters of political democracy, human rights, and social justice have good reasons to be alarmed about coups d’état. These abrupt seizures of the State apparatus have occurred with great frequency in recent decades. Coups have overthrown established constitutionals democratic systems of government, halted movements toward greater democracy, and have imposed brutal and oppressive regimes. Coups d’état are one of the main ways in which new dictatorships are stablished. Coups may also precipitate civil wars and International crises. Coups remain a major un solved defense problem.
(…) Massive efforts and sums of money are regularly devoted to prepare to resist foreign aggression. Yet, virtually nothing is done to prepare societies to deal with the defense problem of coups d’état, despite their frequency in world politics.
