Source. Dawn

The following article is the concluding piece in our coup trilogy — Men on horseback (July 21, 2016, Dawn.com); Future coups (July 24, 2016, Dawn Magazine).

This piece brings the trilogy to a full circle by investigating an enigmatic coup plot in a country which, during the Cold War, was behind most military putsches: the United States of America.

The US is one of the world’s oldest democracies. Ever since the American Revolution (1765-1783), which overthrew British colonial rule and saw America become a sovereign country, the US developed a rigorous (though, complex) democratic system.

By the early 20th century, this system had managed to withstand and survive various political and economic upheavals. These also included a vicious civil war (1861-1865) which (for four years or so) saw the country break into two competing regions, before the federalist forces restored its reunification.

Thus, in the United States, a military coup was never to be expected, even during the height of the Cold War when putsches where taking place with great frequency across much of Asia, South America, Africa and even in some countries of Europe.

However, though the US political system has largely remained airtight to ever allow any internal military adventurism, fears of a military coup were never entirely missing from the country’s body politic.

More.