I thought coups were an acceptable form of change of government in realism?

The problem is that the US essentially DID enable the coup govt in Honduras despite the administrations original condemnation. We suspended a relatively small token amount of funds from the MCC, we didn't use all the tools at our disposal to squeeze Micheletti (freezing financial accounts, cutting off all funds etc), the State Dept's promised legal review of whether or not a military coup had taken place was never completed in the hopes the media would just stop asking and we eventually announced that irrespective of the election or how it was undertaken, we would accept the results even if Zelaya was never restored to office, all of which was an about-face in our previously-stated policy. DeMint and other conservatives held up key State Dept nominees to put pressure on the administration to not engage in any meaningful action which would really put pressure on Micheletti.

So, I would argue that our position on coups de etat have not really changed at all.

>The fact that the United States no longer supports or tolerates coups as it did during the Cold War is likely a large factor in why they're not as common or as disastrous as they used to be.

You're kidding right?

Exactly what was learned? Several posibilities.

Learned that sometimes in "emerging democracies", the ousted leader is not automatically the "pro-democracy" side and the military is not automatically the "anti-democracy" side?

Learned that condeming and isolating an ambigious government might not be the wisest course of action?

RE: Honduras.

Stacyx, should the US not recognize the post-election Honduras government?

Should we place Honduras under the Cuban embargo laws until Zelaya is restored to office?

The 2009 US policy of demanding Zelaya's reinstatement was undermined from the start because the anti-Zelaya forces knew that they could simply run out the clock until the election. Of course, that's because the anti-Zelaya forces weren't just a military dictatorship, they were pretty much the entire political class besides Zelaya.

The reticence by the Obama administration when it comes to the coup in Niger compared to Honduras is even more striking when one considers the fact that Zelaya's removal wasn't a coup. He was removed by the order of the Honduran Supreme Court in accordance with provisions of the Honduran Constitution. The Honduran military was serving the rule of law and civilian authority, not circumventing it.

The only reason for the different reaction that makes sense is that, having been burned on Honduras, Obama is refraining from any knee-jerk reactions this time around.

If a politician is trying to errode democracy and make himself tyrant for life, You can't expect the people to wait out until he decides to give up his mission out of the goodness of his heart in order to restore democracy. If they are lucky, the Armed Forces will act to protect democracy, and there will have to be a transition period when it looks like "coupsters" are in control while democracy is being restored.

What should US policy be? What good does it do to condemn? Policy should be based on: Is the new government willing to have free elections ASAP? Are they supporting the rule of law under their standing constitution or are they trying to "change" the constitution? By helping with elections, the US protects the people and freedom. By supporting the rule of law the US supports freedom and protects the people. Constitutional changes can be carried out after democracy and rule of law is restored.

You can suspend all aid, but not to inmediate elections. By participating you assure that they're free, transparent and that everyone votes. This is the lesson we can teach you from our experience in Honduras.

Hondurans knew from the outset that democracy would be restored with elections because that's how democracies are installed. The hardest thing for us was that we had to fight against the world to protect our elections and thus support and continue our democratic form of government and the rule of law.

We only hope that the US will not turn its back on elections for Niger. We hope Niger has a Micheletti who stood firm and didn't allow anyone or anything to derail our elections.