<em>Adapting Traditional Peacemaking Principles to Contemporary Conflicts:</em> The ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework

Abstract

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) spearheaded a silent revolution in proving that a third-world regional organization is capable of driving a peace-enforcement process and achieving relative peace, in spite of neglect by the big powers. This has been shown through the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia (1989–1996–1999–2003), Sierra Leone (1997– 2001), and Guinea Bissau (1998). It has since been involved in preventive diplomacy in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and other flashpoints while striving to institutionalize its Peace Support Operations (PSO) architecture in line with the UN standard. Against this backdrop, it became imperative to develop a preventive diplomacy strategy in order to prevent a relapse into destructive conflicts. While the result of the preventive diplomacy in previous interventions by ECOWAS has been modest, its effectiveness has been hampered by technical inadequacies and insufficient institutional support from the ECOWAS Commission. This has resulted in a resurgence of crises in some member states, relapse of postconflict states into instability and conflict, and disrespect for regional statutes and the protocol. It has also weakened the level of trust in ECOWAS to facilitate conflict prevention. However, the advent of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) in 2008 provided an opportunity to implement a coordinated peacemaking strategy and systematically implement provisions of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, decisions, and protocols in order to enhance conflict prevention. More important, the ECPF represents an attempt to adapt the principles of traditional conflict management to contemporary challenges. This paper takes a critical look at the ECPF as a framework capable of effective conflict transformation in the emerging regional peace and security architecture, outlines its traditional conflict management principles, and points out the opportunities of fashioning a mediatory framework that will systematically and consistently engage in good offices, negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration for regional peace, security, and development.