Regional Security Arrangements Research Articles

Collective Security and the African Regional Integration

The end of the cold war and the marginalization of Africa, coupled with the vicious cycle of poverty, underdevelopment, disease and internecine conflicts are reasons for the aggressive support for African regional integration and security mechanism. Meanwhile, commitments to African regional integration have been constrained by a highly ambivalent critique of the colonial heritage of sovereignty, and unwilling to transfer any of such freedom to supra-national bodies. Yet this has the potential of enhancing their ability to coordinate the implementation of collective security. The objective of this research therefore is to place the relationship between the African regional integration and the efficacy of collective security within the region. The study adopted the Survey research design. The main instrument for data collection was structured questionnaires. The Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was used in testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that, there is a significant relationship between African regional integration and collective security/ effective deterrent to aggression, and also that, there is a significant relationship between the failure of African regional integration and the security dilemma confronting the region. The researcher therefore recommends that for the purpose of conflict management, the partnership between the UN and the AU, with its corresponding sub-regional organizations, should be akin to a pyramid. Regional security integration should rest on concepts of good governance, sound civil-military relations and commitments to democracy and human rights, and that regional security arrangements need to focus on modest measures for the prevention and containment of conflicts, rather than utopian ideas and complex institutional mechanisms.

Regionalization of Peacekeeping in Africa: The Case of the African Union

This study examines the peacekeeping experience of the African Union (AU), which claims to be the main security provider on the African continent. Based on the case study method, the principle of historicism and a chronological approach, the author proposes a classification and a comprehensive analysis of the AU operations, from the first to the current missions. The aim of the research is to provide a balanced characterisation of the AU in conflict resolution by describing both the missions and the external environment in which they have been deployed, and by abstracting from the deliberately negative connotations associated with assessments of the potential of regional security forces. It analyses the dynamics, legal frameworks, characteristics and outcomes of deployed peacekeeping operations, both under the auspices of the AU alone (in Burundi, Comoros, Sudan/Darfur, Somalia) and in cooperation with the UN and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (in Darfur, Mali, Central African Republic, CAR). As a result of the study, the author describes the key parameters of established models of African conflict resolution. The experience and practice of the AU - UN interaction show that the AU is ready to quickly respond to emerging crises and to contain bloodshed, often in the absence of peace processes and well before the UN intervention. The current format of interaction between the two organizations demonstrates the readiness of the UN to deploy its own contingents once the “hot” phase of the conflict is over and conditions for political dialogue are formed. However, with the launch of the first and so far only hybrid UN - AU mission (UNAMID) a new model of cooperation is gradually emerging that complements the existing simple “division of labor.” The purely regional format of peacekeeping stems from the potential of regional actors. The African Union, as a continental regional organization, plays a crucial role in maintaining the regional security regime, while sub-regional organizations carry out operational functions on the basis of regional security arrangements. The author assesses the peacekeeping missions carried out and highlights the challenges faced by African peacekeepers in their work.

DECLINING US STATUS AS A SUPERPOWER: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WORLD ORDER

Since 1945, the US has been relishing the status of a superpower by following its interests through a no of means, including international order, global and regional security arrangements, and international organizations. Recently, emerging global powers have challenged the existing international order, whereas the US is on a declining trajectory. The US hegemonic obligations to use its preponderant power in global issues with the intent to cast events in its favour have brought an inevitable overstretch beyond its capacity. Furthermore. a visible shift in power centres, the backlash of political decisions, and economic recession are other factors that need to be studied. This paper, therefore, explores the highly debated and contested reasons for the US decline. While employing deductive reasoning through qualitative analysis, it evaluates the efficacy of existing international order, emerging multilateralism, and difficulties in obviating the attendant risks to US security and prosperity. Implications of a declining superpower and suggested course of action for Pakistan have also been discussed in this paper.
 
 Bibliography Entry
 Abbas, Muhammad, and Hassan Jalil Shah. 2021. “Declining US Status as a Superpower: Implications for the World Order.” Magalla Papers 25 (1): 131-142.

Bitter Years

Since the outbreak of the so-called Arab Spring in 2011, the regional system in the Middle East, as well as in the sub-regional system of the Arabian Gulf, has been in flux. Under these new circumstances, the order of the status quo has started to unravel, and a new order is being imposed, accompanied by new regional dynamics and security arrangements. Given their smallness, possession of significant resources, and geostrategic location, most of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were always vulnerable, because of either the disparity of their capabilities compared with stronger, larger, and aggressive neighbors or the demographic deficiency and general regional imbalance of power. Traditionally, and to preserve their security and stability, these states seek protection from external powers. This article investigates how small, rich states, such as the GCC countries interact, through the lens of structural realism.

Ad hoc coalitions and institutional exploitation in international security: towards a typology

While the increasingly thick web of global, regional and sub-regional security arrangements and institutions has received ample scholarly attention, the phenomenon of ad hoc military coalitions and how they impact these institutions has been relatively little explored. We examine ad hoc coalitions in international security responses and develop a tentative typology of military responses that takes ad hoc coalitions into consideration, where we differentiate in terms of institutionalisation and duration. Following a rational-choice institutionalist logic, we argue that institutional proliferation increases the chances of institutional exploitation. We illustrate this with how states apply a pick-and-choose approach in which institutional products but not frameworks are used. They use the interoperable forces, a common culture and mainstreamed doctrine, but not the formal deployment of rapid response mechanisms of eg the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the African Union. In closing, we observe that institutional proliferation in international security facilitates a functionalist approach mainly inspired by national self-interest. Future research should examine whether this could result in dwindling relevance of international institutions, first in the domain of security, but later also in other domains.

Contesting the Hub‐and‐Spokes Model in Southeast Asia

The debate surrounding the United States’ hub‐and‐spokes alliance model in the Asia‐Pacific, that is, whether its endurance is a testament to its durability or whether its inability to face up to contemporary challenges reflects its failure—is best captured by recent norm research in International Relations. It can be argued that the U.S. hub‐and‐spokes model in Southeast Asia is not failing but is simply showing signs of contestation. The evolution of this network of regional security arrangements from U.S. alliances in Southeast Asia (with the Philippines and Thailand) to American security partnerships in that subregion (strategic partnership with Singapore and comprehensive partnership with Vietnam) reflects applicatory contestation. At the same time, the China factor and Washington’s evolving Asia strategy, which competes with the Middle East and with the “America First” instincts of the Trump administration, challenge the core of the San Francisco System’s validity. Hence, while the hub‐and‐spokes model is merely showing signs of contestation, the fact that it is undergoing validity contestation serves as a cautionary tale. Those U.S. policymakers supporting it will need to implement steps to avoid its complete erosion.

China in an Evolving Northeast Asia

The Northeast Asian security landscape is fast evolving amid intensifying China-U.S. strategic competition and a still raging coronavirus pandemic. Frequent summit meetings among regional leaders, including the historic meetings between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, have not translated into broader security dialogues and joint efforts to build a robust and durable regional security architecture. Divergent security perceptions, America’s dominant security role, and a mosaic pattern of regional security arrangements and mechanisms are the major factors shaping Northeast Asian security dynamics. Beijing remains committed to the declared path of peaceful development amid growing suspicion and concern over its strategic intention and capabilities; with strategic patience and perseverance, it is determined to play a larger role in forging consensus, building institutions, advancing cooperation, and coordinating relations in regional security matters.

The implications of the 2017 UN Nuclear Prohibition Treaty for existing and proposed nuclear-weapon-free zones

ABSTRACTThe 2017 Nuclear Weapon Prohibition Treaty preamble reaffirmed the role of regional nuclear weapon free zones (NWFZs) in enhancing regional peace and security and in contributing to wider nuclear disarmament objectives. Existing such zones in many regions, including Latin America, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa, Central Asia and Mongolia, have played significant roles in both preventing or reversing nuclear proliferation, assisting in the delegitimization of nuclear weapons as part of regional security arrangements, and securing binding negative security guarantees from nuclear weapon states (a feature absent in the NPT). At the same time, the new Prohibition Treaty contains important provisions that may require strengthening of existing NWFZs and consideration for incorporation in new such zones. The article examines particular needs for strengthening existing and proposed NWFZs, particularly in relation to the control over nuclear weapons, threats of nuclear weapon use, assistance in engaging in prohibited nuclear weapon activities, and obligations to provide victim assistance and environmental remediation in areas affected by nuclear testing.

The Ecuador-Peru Peace Process

The 1998 Brasilia Peace Agreement ended a territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru that, due to the size and location of the contested area, had remained a source of regional instability and continental tensions for decades. This paper examines the circumstances that finally allowed negotiations, beginning in 1995, to overcome an almost two-centuries-old conflict, long after almost all territorial disputes in South America had been laid to rest. It will focus in particular on the diplomatic endeavours by the guarantor countries of the 1942 Rio de Janeiro Protocol, which involved a unique set of negotiations, and the setting up of the first effective multilateral peace operation in South America. It also suggests that the peace agreement benefited from the dynamics of economic integration underway since the 1980s. Finally, it considers the implications for regional security arrangements, as well as Brazil’s leadership credentials in South America.

Regional Security Arrangements and Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Case Study: Shanghai Cooperation Organization

In international system scene, interests and strategies for ensuring these interests are among key strategies of powerful countries. Therefore, super powers, organize security in different geographical areas through competition in order to challenge competitors and threaten them. Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO), as the most important security measure, has been developed by influence of competitive atmosphere in international system by help of Russian, China and some other important regional allies in response to transatlantic actions. As a result, this security measure could control peripheral threats in the region. In this regard, Islamic Republic of Iran, has considered emergence of this regional security measure as a serious threat for its national and regional interests and has acted to suppress them in the framework of its defense diplomacy. Considering this, authors try to answer this question that how Shanghai cooperation organization as security measure can influence the foreign policy behavior of Islamic Republic of Iran? By studying and analyzing how and why Shanghai cooperation organization (SOC) around Islamic Republic of Iran and determining foreign policy of super powers in establishing this organization, its effect on the foreign policy behavior of Islamic Republic of Iran is considered.

Unbuilt Anxieties: Infrastructure Projects, Transnational Conflict in the South China/East Sea, and Vietnamese Statehood

AbstractThe conflicts shaping territorial claims and counter-claims to overlapping areas of the South China Sea threatens to significantly damage Sino-Vietnamese relations, destabilize regional security arrangements, and alter the geopolitical status quo. The governments of both countries routinely invoke historical documents, commission scientific studies, and cite legal principles to justify their competing claims in the maritime region and the resources contained therein. The role different types of energy infrastructure play in the state-level disputes have received little attention, however. This essay addresses this oversight. In it, I foreground the complex ways not yet built infrastructure affect Sino-Vietnamese relations as well as our theoretical understanding of “the state”, especially with regard to Vietnam. Not yet built infrastructure refers to more than the assemblage of things that will be built in the future to power the economy, such as oil rigs, natural gas pipelines, and refineries. The concept also includes the ideological positions that presuppose the materialization of blueprint plans in physical form, i.e., the broader goals such infrastructure is meant to achieve. Towards this end, the article focuses on how state actors and their proxies conceptualize the likely impacts not yet built infrastructure will have upon their respective interests once construction is completed. The case study highlights how the need for energy security strengthens national security at some moments, weakens it at others, and both at still others.

Regionalism as an Instrument: Assessing Brazil's Relations with its Neighbourhood

This article aims to understand the basic characteristics of regionalism in Brazilian foreign policy. For this purpose, it goes over the recent history of Brazilian involvement in regional trade and security arrangements in South America. It also examines the manner in which economic uncertainties, brought about by the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, affected Brazilian foreign policy towards its region. Based on this historical analysis, it defines five key aspects that characterise Brazilian behaviour in the region, namely: post-democratisation regionalism; presidential regionalism; reactive regionalism; concentric/multilevel regionalism; and instrumental regionalism.

Mistrust and hegemony: Regional institutional design, the FSU-CIS, and Russia

Power inequalities and mistrust have characterized many relationships between states over the centuries. One approach that states can take to deal with these two, often interrelated, problems is to create intergovernmental institutions and arrangements designed to accommodate the interests of states with varied power capabilities. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) embodies an interesting institutional design in an effort by former Soviet Union (FSU) countries to address these dilemmas. The CIS was not only the first multilateral FSU organization created following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it also provided a necessary and important framework for the further construction of bilateral and multilateral relations among the former Soviet republics as they reengaged one another. CIS arrangements have been augmented by extensive bilateral negotiations and treaties and, brought together, these interconnected multilateral and bilateral instruments yield a system of cautious regional security governance and framework for international relations within the FSU. This paper analyzes three key features of this foundational CIS institutional design: (1) legalism, (2) an à la carte choice of treaty instruments, and (3) nested bilateralism, wherein many details of the regional, multilateral agreements are implemented via bilateral treaties (hence constituting a combination design feature). Empirically, the paper illuminates this institutional design using a unique dataset of all multilateral security treaties of the CIS (approximately 185) and all bilateral security treaties (more than 500) between the regional hegemon, Russia, and the smaller CIS members. We further investigate the causal mechanisms of the CIS institutional design as it copes with the conditions of hegemony and mistrust in two bilateral case studies, Russia–Armenia, and Russia–Ukraine (Black Sea Fleet status). We find the CIS institutional design, built upon by subsequent FSU regional organizations (including the Eurasian Economic Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organization), has permitted both more and less powerful states to advance their interrelated security interests in the face of considerable power asymmetry and mistrust. More than twenty years after the CIS’s formation, a patchwork of Eurasian regional organizations and numerous related bilateral treaties widen regional security and other arrangements. Meanwhile, the dramatic events surrounding the February 2014 Ukrainian coup and the joining of Crimea to the Russian Federation only reinforce the importance of understanding state treaty activity in channeling state action. Questions surround Russia respecting the 1992 treaty and protocol with Ukraine and the US on the removal of nuclear weapons from the territory of Ukraine and the joint recognition of Ukraine’s sovereign borders. But Russia’s spring 2014 actions involving Crimea and its Crimean bases accorded with the various treaties concluded with Ukraine in 1997; treaties addressing the Black Sea Fleet and the Crimean Peninsula that are a subject of our analysis.

The Milestones of the Persian Gulf Security Developments

Security of the Persian Gulf region has been confronted many challenges during the history because of the geopolitical and geo-economical role of this region for western countries and superpowers especially after the occurrence of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Objective of this paper is to discus and evaluate the challenges of the regional security arrangements by the US in the Persian Gulf. In this regard, Buzan's theory (Regional security complexes) is applied to undertake the reasons of insecurity in this region. Data are collected from articles, books and journals based on qualitative method. The main finding of the paper expresses that according on buzan's theory rivalries of local states in the region has caused the penetration of the external powers such as United States.

Authoritarianism and the securitization of development in Africa

Debate on the �securitization� of aid and international development since 9/11 has been anchored in two key claims: that the phenomenon has been driven and imposed by western governments and that this is wholly unwelcome and deleterious for those in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. This article challenges both of these assumptions by demonstrating how a range of African regimes have not only benefited from this dispensation but have also actively encouraged and shaped it, even incorporating it into their own militarized state-building projects. Drawing on the cases of Chad, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda�four semi-authoritarian polities which have been sustained by the securitization trend�we argue that these developments have not been an accidental by-product of the global �war on terror�. Instead, we contend, they have been the result of a deliberate set of choices and policy decisions by these African governments as part of a broader �illiberal state-building� agenda. In delineating this argument we outline four major strategies employed by these regimes in this regard: �playing the proxy�; simultaneous �socialization� of development policy and �privatization� of security affairs; making donors complicit in de facto regional security arrangements; and constructing regime �enemies� as broader, international threats.

India’s ‘Connect Central Asia Policy’: Emerging Economic and Security Dimensions

Central Asia is strategically positioned as an access between Europe and Asia and offers extensive potential for trade, investment and growth. The region is richly endowed with commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, cotton, gold, copper, aluminum and iron. The increasing importance of the region's oil and gas resources has generated new rivalries among external powers. A scramble for resources has begun in the Central Asia between Russia and other external players like US, China resulting in a Great Game rivalry. India wants to gain a foothold in the region for its huge energy reserves and also to secure a stable extended neighbourhood in Afghanistan. Today in the post-cold war years, India is increasingly looking toward Central Asia as both a reliable source of oil and natural gas and a focus of its strategic interests in Asia. Trade and economic ties with the landlocked Central Asia are point of interest for India. In this age of globalization, economic ties hold the key to any bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cooperation. Both India and Central Asia share common perceptions about the need to have friendship and mutually advantageous economic relations especially in the backdrop of globalization. Through its 'connect Central Asia Policy', New Delhi aims to actively take part in Central Asia's regional cooperation and security arrangements. This paper attempts to highlight the need for India's holistic approach towards Central Asia with in a neo-liberal framework in the context of globalization. commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, cotton, gold, copper, aluminum and iron. The increasing importance of the region's oil and gas resources has generated new interests and rivalries among external powers. Central Asia is also a strong market for millions of consumers. India can benefit immensely out of promoting stronger ties with the countries of the region. Direct Indian-Central Asian link were limited during the Soviet period. In the backdrop of Indo-Soviet special friendship, New Delhi was virtually present in the everyday lives of Central Asia through television, movies, music and cultural exchanges. (Laruelle(10)) In the immediate post-Soviet years India's presence in the region became symbolic. Things however started changing since later part of 1990s when the major powers namely the US and China made inroads into the region in various ways that led to the rise of 'New Great Game' with Russia, China and the US vying over security and energy interests in a politically unstable region. India, though not a party to this great game rivalry, took keen interest in Central Asia primarily in view of its huge ever growing energy requirements. In brief, apart from economic factors, Central Asia is important to India because of its strategic location, geographical proximity and of its energy resources. Therefore, restoring traditional linkages with Central Asia has been one of the primary strategic priorities before India today. It is in this backdrop, this paper will highlight the need for India's holistic approach towards Central Asia with in a neo-realist framework. This write up also attempts to explore the concerns and interests that motivates India's recent efforts to step up its engagements in Central Asia. The paper tries to find out answers of the following key questions: (a) How should India, a late comer, strategize its arrival on the Central Asian scenario? (b) What should be India's approach towards key external players - Russia, China and the US - in the region? (c) How far it is true that Central Asia could promote India's energy security to a considerable extent?

The impact of regional dynamics on US policy toward regional security arrangements in East Asia

This paper examines American policy regarding regional security arrangements (RSAs) in Asia. It argues that it is American perceptions of regional interest in such RSAs and of the compatibility of the goals of regional partners with those of the United States, which eventually shape American policy. After discussing the potential value and cost of RSAs, it suggests that actual policy choices are shaped largely as a reaction to regional states’ motivations and policies. Since in Asia, there was limited functional pooling effect to be gained from RSAs, changes in American policies reflected much more a reaction to changes in regional interest in such arrangements. This interaction is demonstrated through a review of post-Cold War developments regarding US RSA policy, distinguishing between the early years of transition to unipolarity and the erosion of unipolarity since the late 1990s. These are also compared to earlier American policy regarding RSAs during the Cold War.

Regional security arrangements as a filter for norm diffusion: the African Union, the European Union and the responsibility to protect

Regional security arrangements play a central role in modifying emerging norms as they travel from the global to the local level. This process of norm localization is shaped by various factors such as the characteristics of regional security cultures, corresponding resonance with the emerging norm, institutional voice opportunities, and mechanisms of framing and pruning as they are utilized by norm entrepreneurs. The article applies this analytical framework to the localization of the responsibility to protect (R2P) norm by the African Union and the European Union. Subsequently, the paper examines how localization of the R2P norm in both regions affected their reactions to the Libyan crisis in 2011. It also examines the likely ramifications that the intervention may have on the future reception of the R2P by African and European actors.

Regional Security and the Challenges of Democratisation in Africa: The Case of ECOWAS and SADC

In recent years, African leaders have aggressively sought to strengthen their regional security structures while simultaneously attempting to democratise. Although they recognise that African regional organisations will need to assume a greater role in tackling Africa's security problems, the challenges posed by on‐going democratisation efforts have had a visible impact on the effectiveness of some regional organisations. This article examines the challenges that democratisation poses to regional collective security arrangements in Africa, with specific reference to ECOWAS and SADC. It argues that whilst the inclination to democratise has influenced the establishment of new collective security structures, the superficial nature of the changes have prevented the gains at the structural level to be translated to meaningful practice on the ground. Nevertheless, some progress has been made.

REVISITING THE SOFT SECURITY DEBATE: FROM EUROPEAN PROGRESS TO AFRICAN CHALLENGES

Proponents of soft security strive to ensure the goal of individual security without resorting to armed coercion. Given the extended scope of security sectors falling within the ambit of soft security regional co-operation is indispensable – a phenomenon most visible in European security architecture and that of Northern Europe in particular. Not only European decision-makers, however, pursue the soft security option. As Africa entered the twenty-first century, co-operation and an implicit realisation of the importance of soft security threats increasingly configured its regional security arrangements. A new wave of warfare simultaneously entered the African realm and any security approach had to contend closely with the inhumane profiles of these so-called new wars. Subsequently, African security architecture had to straddle the resultant hard-soft security domains more acutely than that of Europe. This required appropriate military options and the adjustment of African armed forces towards softer security policy instruments. For Africa in particular, the maintenance of a hard divide (even if only conceptually) between hard and soft security as imposed by Northern Europe in particular, remains more declaratory than real.