Abstract
Discussing security is a complex endeavor as there is no agreed definition. Dividing it in a narrow and broader perspective may help to analyze violent conflicts and the reactions to it as well as long-term programmes for a less violent future. Instruments and organizational structures vary over time as a reaction to the different challenges. These dynamic developments and interest driven engagement are a reflection of the narrow perspective. The broader perspective with its long-term focus on human security may have a weaker short-term impact, but reduce violent conflict on the long run. International organizations and states perform different tasks in providing security in specific situations.
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Notes
- 1.
www.africacenter.org/security-topics/, accessed July 27th, 2018.
- 2.
The author is very well aware that there are many schools of thought and much more definitions. For the sake of simplicity basic working definitions will be used. See e.g. Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou: In Defense of the Broad View of Human Security, In: Routledge Handbook of Human Security, Routledge 2013. On the concept of security see Baldwin, David A. The concept of Security. In: Review of International Studies. 1997. 23. 5–26.
- 3.
For a critical view see Williams, Paul D., Thinking about Security in Africa, International Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 6, Africa and Security (Nov. 2007), 1021–1038.
- 4.
See e.g. on the challenges of implementing international treaties: Aliyu Ahmed-Hameed:
The Challenges of Implementing International Treaties in Third World Countries: The Case of Maritime and Environmental Treaties Implementation in Nigeria, Journal of Law, Policy and Globalisation, Vol. 50, 2016.
- 5.
Recent examples are political and military interventions of ECOWAS in The Gambia (2017) or in Burkina Faso (2015).
- 6.
Joint Summit of ECOWAS and ECCAS Heads of State and Government on Peace, Security, Stability and the Fight against Terrorism and Violent Extremism, Final Communique, Lomé, 30th July 2018.
- 7.
ECOWAS-ECCAS Joint Summit held on 25th June 2013 in Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon.
- 8.
The call to cooperate is not a very recent phenomenon. In September 2012 the newspaper Leadership (Abuja) reported: West Africa: Ecowas Reiterates Call for Closer Cooperation Among Law Enforcement Agencies.
- 9.
Ebrahim, Shannon, SADC summit focuses on bringing stability to Lesotho, DRC and Madagascar, April 25th, 2018, https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/sadc-summit-focuses-on-bringing-stability-to-lesotho-drc-and-madagascar-14637285, accessed August 27th, 2018.
- 10.
Louw-Vaudran, Liesl, Ls SADC’s work in the DRC over?, Institute for Security Studies, ISS today, August 22nd, 2018, https://issafrica.org/iss-today/is-sadcs-work-in-the-drc-over, accessed August 27th, 2018.
- 11.
Joint Summit of ECOWAS and ECCAS Heads of State and Government on Peace, Security, Stability and the Fight against Terrorism and Violent Extremism, Final Communique, Lomé, 30th July 2018, Chapter 17.
- 12.
AMISOM in the first years of the mission, when funding was provided i.a. by the European Union.
- 13.
For more information on MNJTF and first hand information see https://www.mnjtf.org, accessed August 26th, 2018.
- 14.
see Assavano, William, Abatan, Jeannine Ella A and Sawadogo, Wendyam Aristide, Assessing the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, Institute for Security Studies, West Africa Report, Issue 19, September 2016.
- 15.
Detailed informations on G5 Sahel can be obtain at http://www.g5sahel.org, accessed August 26th, 2018.
- 16.
The G5 Sahel and its Joint Force. West Africa Brief. http://www.west-africa-brief.org/content/en/g5-sahel-and-its-joint-force, accessed August 26th, 2018.
- 17.
Resolution 2391 (2017). Adopted by the Security Council at its 8129th meeting, on 8 December 2017.
- 18.
The G5 Sahel and its joint force. op. cit.
- 19.
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- 20.
Constitutive Act of the African Union. https://au.int/sites/default/files/pages/32020-file-constitutiveact_en.pdf, accessed August 26th, 2018.
- 21.
Although most external non-African analysts are a kind of obsessed with peace and security it is only one out of 12 fields of engagement which the AU towards a peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa. See https://au.int, accessed August 26th, 2018.
- 22.
There are plenty of papers analyzing the AU in Somalia, its challenges and possible solutions. Funding is just one of it. With all the critique at hand the improvements the AU made since the establishment of AMISOM should not be forgotten. See e.g. Williams, Paul D., Strategic Communications for Peace Operations: The African Union’s Information War Against al-Shabaab, Stability. International Journal of Security and Development. 7(1), p.3, https://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles/10.5334/sta.606/, accessed August 26th, 2018 or Mahmood, Omar S and Ndubuisi, Christian Ani, Impact of EU funding dynamics on AMISOM, East Africa Report 16, December 2017, accessed August 26th, 2018.
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Akonor, Kwame. UN Peacekeeping on Africa. A critical Examination and Recommendations for Improvements, Springer 2017.
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- 28.
ibd.
- 29.
“Human security is an approach to assist Member States in identifying and addressing widespread and cross-cutting challenges to the survival, livelihood and dignity of their people” (General Assembly Resolution 66/290).
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Rosling, Hans, Rosling, Ola and Rosling Rönnlund, Anna, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About The World—And Why Things Are Better Than You Think, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, UK, 2018.
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Hainzl, G. (2019). Security in Africa: A Perception of Ongoing Developments. In: Froehlich, A. (eds) Embedding Space in African Society. Southern Space Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06040-4_15
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