Abstract
Babatunde Afolabi looks at various peace functions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) including its evolution from 1973. The author explains why the organization built principally to promote economic integration now is investing substantive energy and material resources in programs to prevent violent conflict. ECOWAS in truth must prioritize security and defense because economic development is possible only in an environment purged of deadly violence. The main institutions undergirding ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) are retooled minutely and refurbished consistently to ensure they are sufficiently robust to maintain regional order and concord. Complex themes are treated for clarity and recommendations offered by Afolabi are at once major, sensible and compelling for future policy making. ECOWAS’ main mediation bodies such as the Council of the Wise, Special Representatives of the ECOWAS President and Envoys—composed of distinguished citizens, are shown to be invaluable. The work illuminates the qualitative roles of Track-I and Track-II diplomacy and argues convincingly why bridging the gap between the two constituencies will maximize the overall power and legitimacy of peacemaking in West Africa. ECOWAS’ and AU’s currently separate early warning systems (ECOWARN-CEWS) should be fused together to reduce redundancy and improve performance.
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