Disputed Destiny: The Future of Economic Community of West African States’ Peacekeeping Operations

Abstract

<p>The proliferation of security threats from interstate to complex and protracted intrastate tensions in West Africa has been the driving force behind ECOWAS’s significant transition from a multinational economic institution to a supranational peacekeeping force. In its pursuit of peace as a precondition for socio-economic and political development in the region, ECOWAS has progressively developed extensive multilateral and multidimensional security mechanisms targeted at addressing diverse facets of regional conflicts. However, the hope placed in these mechanisms to elevate human security and supra-nationality over regime security and sovereignty in regional peacekeeping has remained problematic, while there has been very little in-depth research in this area.</p> <p>This thesis therefore examines the dimensions of insecurity in West Africa and the impacts of ECOWAS peacekeeping initiatives as a conflict management and security actor in the region. Specifically, ECOWAS’s peacekeeping engagements are analysed through evaluation of its peace missions in Liberia (ECOWAS Mission in Liberia-ECOMOG/ECOMIL) and Gambia (ECOWAS mission in the Gambia-ECOMIG). Likewise its contributions to multi-actor peace operations in Mali (MICEMA/AFISMA/MINUSMA). The purpose of these surveys is to determine the levels of effectiveness of these missions, their lessons and drawbacks as well as the required strategies to be deployed for more effective achievements in future regional peace operations. A qualitative research approach was chosen using a multiple case study approach. This involved extensive participant observation over one year, in-depth interviews, written open-ended questionnaires, focus groups and information gathered from the published literature.</p> <p>The study found that while ECOWAS’s security mechanisms are conceptually comprehensive and standardized, their operationalisation has been emasculated by the resource-capability weakness of the ECOWAS institution, internal politics among its members and lapses occasioned by external influences. This situation is responsible for ECOWAS’s inability to attain its full operational capabilities and mount robust peace operations in West Africa. The findings reveal that while ECOMOG and ECOMIG peace missions were relatively successful; the same cannot be said of MICEMA/AFISMA, which has not transited beyond the conceptualisation phase. Additionally, the thesis questions the rationale behind the ECOWAS/AU peacekeeping partnership since both institutions suffer from similar constraints. The argument that UN peace missions will often succeed where ECOWAS/AU has failed is equally untenable as the Malian conflict has demonstrated.</p> <p>The findings of the three case studies indicate that mutually reinforcing collaboration among the trio (ECOWAS/AU/UN) is indispensable for peacekeeping success in the region since ECOWAS, unlike the UN currently lacks the resource capability to mount fully comprehensive and robust peace missions save with support from wider international community. The principal conclusion is that although the multi-actor peacekeeping model is not the ideal model for the region, it holds a better prospect for success than any other approach to the resolution of contemporary West African conflicts. Further, the capabilities of future ECOWAS peace missions will be boosted if they rely on endogenous resources and effective pre-crisis engagements rather than the current reactionary interventions, which often come with considerable human and material costs. The key conclusion of the study is that the prospect of self-sustaining peace in West Africa will likely remain elusive until the regional multilateral security mechanisms are operationally diversified to address fundamental socio-economic and human security facets of the problems, which remain at the root of most of the conflicts.</p>