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Q98 (IAS/2023) International Relations & Global Affairs › International Organisations & Groupings › International conflicts and crises Official Key

In the recent years Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan caught the international attention for which one of the following reasons common to all of them?

Result
Your answer: —  Âˇ  Correct: D
Explanation

The correct answer is Option 4: Successful coups.

In recent years, the Sahel region and West Africa have witnessed a significant resurgence of military interventions, often referred to as a "coup contagion." All four mentioned countries experienced successful military takeovers that overthrew civilian or transitional governments:

  • Mali: Experienced two coups in quick succession (August 2020 and May 2021).
  • Guinea: President Alpha CondĂŠ was ousted by the military in September 2021.
  • Sudan: The military seized power in October 2021, dissolving the transitional sovereign council.
  • Chad: Following the death of President Idriss DĂŠby in April 2021, a military council took control, bypassing constitutional succession.

While issues like desertification (Option 3) and Chinese influence (Option 2) affect the region, they do not apply uniformly as the primary reason for recent global headlines. The common thread specifically linking these four nations in international diplomatic discourse is the unconstitutional change of government.

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Q. In the recent years Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan caught the international attention for which one of the following reasons common to all …
At a glance
Origin: Mixed / unclear origin Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 ¡ 0/10
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This is a pure 'Headline-Hunter' question. It rewards macro-awareness of global geopolitical trends (the African 'Coup Belt') rather than microscopic fact-finding. If you read the International page of The Hindu/IE weekly, this was a 10-second sitter; if you relied only on static books, it was impossible.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Did Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan attract international attention in recent years for discovery of rich deposits of rare earth elements?
Origin: Weak / unclear Fairness: Borderline / guessy
Indirect textbook clues
Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 30: Climatic Regions > Mineral resources > p. 429
Strength: 5/5
“• Gold, copper, diamonds and oil are important resources that are found in rainforests around the world. Extracting these natural resources is a destructive activity that damages the rainforest ecosystem (resource curse). Examples are: • gold mining in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon,• rare earth mining in the Congo (cobalt mining in recent times Congo's rich red earth has the world's largest known deposit of cobalt, a key metal in the lithium-ion batteries),• gold and copper mining in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and• Oil and gas development in Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru ― some of the world's most promising oil and gas deposits lie deep in tropical rainforests.”
Why relevant

Explicit example: the snippet cites 'rare earth mining in the Congo' and notes Congo's large cobalt/rare-earth–related deposits, establishing that African countries have been sites of high‑value critical‑metal discoveries.

How to extend

A student could treat this as a regional precedent and then check whether similar announcements or geological surveys exist for Chad/Guinea/Mali/Sudan in recent years.

Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 2: The Earth's Crust > Types of Plateau > p. 24
Strength: 4/5
“masses termed mesas and buttes, intersected by deep canyons. This is a common feature of arid and semiarid areas, e.g. in the south-western U.S.A. (Plate 7.D, page 71). Many of the world's plateaux have rich mineral resources and have been actively mined. The African Plateau yields gold, diamonds, copper, manganese and chromium. In the Brazilian Plateau, there are huge resources of iron and manganese, particularly in the Minas Gerais area. The Deccan Plateau has deposits of manganese, coal and iron and the plateau of Western Australia is rich in gold and iron.”
Why relevant

States that many African plateaux yield 'gold, diamonds, copper, manganese and chromium', illustrating that African landforms commonly host economically important mineral deposits.

How to extend

Use this general pattern (African plateaux often have valuable minerals) plus a map/geological map to identify whether the countries named have plateaux or comparable geology that could host rare metals and then seek specific reports.

Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 6: Environmental Degradation and Management > dESErtIfIcatIon or dESErtISatIon. > p. 17
Strength: 3/5
“In countries where desertifcation is particularly extensive and severe are Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara. Te Sahel region of Africa sufers severe drought after every two years. In the decade of 1990 it recorded one of the worst drought as a result of which the crop production was minimal and thousands of people died because of starvation. Te resulting threat of starvation spurs population of the afected areas to increase their farming and livestock pressure on the denuded land, further contributing to their desertifcation. It has been suggested that Mali may be the frst country in the world rendered uninhabitable by environmental destruction.”
Why relevant

Lists Chad and Mali among countries in the Sahel and highlights environmental/landscape features (desertification) that identify their geographic/geomorphologic context.

How to extend

A student could combine the Sahel location with knowledge that some rare‑metal deposits occur in arid/semi‑arid terrains to prioritize searches for exploration news or government/mineral surveys for these countries.

Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 6: Environmental Degradation and Management > SoIl EroSIon. > p. 18
Strength: 3/5
“Te worst afected areas of soil erosion have been shown in Fig. 6.7. Tese areas include: 1. USA Grainlands (Prairies), 2. Central Mexico, 3. North-East Brazil, 4. North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco), 5. Sahel region of Africa stretching over Somalia, Ethiopia, southern Sudan, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara, 6. Botswana and Namibia, 7. Middle-East, 8. Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, etc.), 9. Mongolia, 10. Yangtze-Hwang Ho basins of China, 11. Himalayan region (Siwalik and Lesser Himalayas), 12. Baluchistan, 13. Rajasthan (Tar Desert), and 14. the desert and semi-arid regions of Australia.”
Why relevant

Indicates the Sahel region (including Chad, Mali, southern Sudan) as a distinct erosion/soil‑process region, implying particular surface geology and sedimentary processes that sometimes concentrate minerals.

How to extend

One could extend this by consulting geological literature or news for mineral exploration focused on Sahelian sedimentary/erosion features in the named countries.

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Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

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