Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic remains a global security threat, as the result of the emerging and exacerbated security challenges that have impacted on the national security policies of various regional economic communities (RECs). This study analyses SADC and ECOWAS’ responses to the Covid-19 pandemic under their respective existing peace and security structures and explores if both RECs, SADC and ECOWAS have been efficient. This article discusses the Southern African and West African security setting, how its security architecture emerged and whether it has been successful in overcoming the security ramification in the region under the Covid-19 pandemic. Coincidentally, both SADC and ECOWAS have been confronted with existing and emerging human security threats, such as increased poverty, inequality, and the spread of diseases, such as Covid-19. The Covid-19 pandemic, a non-traditional security threat, has exposed how RECs, such as SADC and ECOWAS, respond to non-traditional and emerging security threats, suggesting for the transcendence of their security architecture that caters equally for non-military and emerging human security threats, alike military threats. This article explores the regional security experiences, challenges, and responses of both the SADC and ECOWAS under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlights

  • As the result of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic there has been unprecedented concern on peace and security

  • The study comparatively studied the evolution of both regional economic communities (RECs) and their security environments and peace, and security challenges, endured prior to the Covid-19 pandemic

  • The study notes that both RECs reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic in a manner that limited the spread of the Covid-19 virus and limited the large-scale loss of life

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Summary

Introduction

As the result of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic there has been unprecedented concern on peace and security. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to remain a security threat, and as a result requires for regions to align their security structures and frameworks to attend to these emerging non-traditional human security threats. Despite the advances, achieved by the RECs, the lack of an evolved security architecture that is more inclusive of non-military security alone remains a major challenge for the transformation of peace and security in the region [2]. The security threats, within SADC and ECOWAS extend beyond merely military aggression (state-centric) and include emerging threats, which are non-traditional, such as human security, and are linked to realist notions of security [4, 5]

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