Assessing the Responses of The Economic Community of West African States to the Recurring and Emerging Security Threats in West Africa

Abstract

Since its formation in 1975, The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has attained a mixed-bag of accomplishments in the area of peace and security. Despite its modest gains in this area, the capacity of the organization has been constantly challenged by emerging and recurring security threats in the West African region. These include jihadist terrorism, drug trafficking and the unconstitutional changes of government. Informed by a brief analysis on the theory of security regionalization, this paper assesses the progress of ECOWAS in resolving the aforementioned security challenges, and then determines how the organization could become more meaningful to regional and global security. The data acquired for the paper was gleaned through scholarly deductions and a vigorous review of ECOWAS’ security mechanisms.