The African continent is plagued by some of the most brutal and violent conflicts in the world. At the same time that warfare is changing, so has the state’s capacity to provide security and political stability to its citizens. This book deals with the role of regional organizations in Africa’s security. It focuses on three basic—yet often overlooked—questions: (1) the advantages and disadvantages of African regional and sub-regional organizations vis-à-vis other security mechanisms, (2) the official and unofficial reasons to intervene, and (3) whether security is actually protected by the peace activities carried out by the regional organizations. The contributors to the book—all leading researchers in the field—systematically assess and compare the role of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This book was based on a special issue of African Security.

The African continent is plagued by some of the most brutal and violent conflicts in the world. At the same time that warfare is changing, so has the state’s capacity to provide security and political stability to its citizens. This book deals with the role of regional organizations in Africa’s security. It focuses on three basic—yet often overlooked—questions: (1) the advantages and disadvantages of African regional and sub-regional organizations vis-à-vis other security mechanisms, (2) the official and unofficial reasons to intervene, and (3) whether security is actually protected by the peace activities carried out by the regional organizations. The contributors to the book—all leading researchers in the field—systematically assess and compare the role of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This book was based on a special issue of African Security.

Regional organizations are an inescapable feature of global politics. Virtually all countries in the world are members of at least one regional or other intergovernmental organization. The involvement of international organizations in the realm of regional peace and security, and their cooperation in this domain with the United Nations, has reached an unprecedented level. Regional organizations have traditionally been formed around economic, political, or environmental objectives, however, over the last decades these organizations have gradually penetrated into the security sphere and developed their capacities in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, or post-war reconstruction. In Europe, Africa, Asia, or the Americas, regional and other intergovernmental organizations have been concurrently empowered by the UN and their own member states to maintain peace and security. Despite suffering from important discrepancies in both their mandates and capacities, regional organizations have become indisputable actors that play a role from the outbreak of a crisis to the reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of a conflict Presenting the most up-to-date critical and comparative analysis of the major regional security institutions, assessing a wide range of regional organizations and providing an accessible and comprehensive guide to 11 key organizations, this book is the first systematic study of the capacities of the most recognized intergovernmental organizations with a security mandate. Regional Security is essential reading for all students of international organizations, peace and security studies and global governance.

Essays examine security, political, financial, and economic organizations in Africa, and discuss the problems and prospects of each group.

This book aims to examine the conceptions and practices of security adopted by Regional Organisations (ROs) across the globe. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been an increased focus on regions as a relevant realm for security, with actors within regional contexts identifying a significant degree of interdependency between one another. As a consequence, international security has taken on a distinct regionally institutionalised character, as seen by the increase in calls for greater utilisation of ‘Chapter VIII: Regional Arrangements’ of the UN, in order to create a devolved UN-led system of global security management. However, the idea of a system of global security management is a remote prospect, because divergence seems to be as important as commonality in terms of regional security. In light of the above, Regional Organisations and Security analyses the primary ROs that are active in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, the Middle East and South America. The findings of individual case studies are compiled to highlight disparities and similarities in how security is seen, prioritised, understood, practised, managed and implemented across regions. On this basis, the authors reach conclusions about whether we live in an increasingly globalised or regionally distinct world, and go on to assess the prospects for a globalised system of security management and consider how this might be developed and organised. This book will be of interest to students of comparative regionalism, international organisations, international security and IR.

Regional security institutions play a significant role in shaping the behavior of existing and rising regional powers by nurturing security norms and rules, monitoring state activities, and sometimes imposing sanctions, thereby formulating the configuration of regional security dynamics. Yet, their security roles and influence do not remain constant. Their raison d’etre, objectives, and functions experience sporadic changes, and some institutions upgrade military functions for peacekeeping operations, while others limit their functions to political and security dialogues. The question is: why and how do these variances in institutional change emerge? This book explores the mechanisms of institutional change, focusing on regional security institutions led by non-great powers. It constructs a theoretical model for institutional change that provides a new understanding of their changing roles in regional security, which has yet to be fully explored in the International Relations field. In so doing, the book illuminates why, when, and how each organization restructures its role, function, and influence. Using case studies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/ African Union (AU), it also sheds light on similarities and differences in institutional change between regional security institutions.

This book studies relevant actors and practices of conflict intervention by African regional organizations and their intimate connection to space-making, addressing a major gap regarding what actually happens within and around these organizations. Based on extensive empirical research, it argues that those intervention practices are essentially spatializing practices, based on particular spatial imaginations, contributing to the continuous construction and formatting of regional spaces as well as to ordering relations between different regional spaces. Analyzing the field of developing practices of conflict intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), the book contributes a new theory-oriented analytical approach to study African regional organizations (ROs) and the complex dynamics of African peace and security, based on insights from Critical Geography. As such, it helps to close an empirical gap with regard to the ‘internal’ modes of operation of African ROs as well as the lack of their theorization. It demonstrates that, contrary to most accounts, intervention practices of African ROs have been diverse and complexly interrelated, involving different actors within and around these organizations, and are essentially tied to the space-making. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of African Politics, Governance, Peace and Security Studies, International or Regional Organizations and more broadly to Comparative Regionalism, International Relations and International Studies.