Collective Security Research Paper

CHAPTER FIVE

RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

5.1. Introduction

This chapter presents findings of the research as well as a discussion of arguments with different views with the objective of attempting to explain the issues underlying collective security in the West African region. The chapter also provides responses to the research questions of the study.

5.2. Summary of Findings

Economic growth in the West African region has been greatly hampered by security challenges over several decades past.

RQ1: What are challenges of regional collective security?

From the research conducted, the challenges of regional collective security within the ECOWAS region were discovered to be the inability to completely prevent the occurrences of

Though states in West Africa practice democracy as a form of government nowadays, the influences of the long years of military rule still impacts on governance as democratic governments, in some cases, conduct affairs in an autocratic manner. The adverse effect of this is that members of the civil society do not have a cordial relationship with the military class and security agencies. Due to the brutalization members of the civil society suffered in the hands of the military during the years of military rule, members of the armed forces are often perceived with morbid fear and disdain, while the latter considers the former to be somewhat inferior due to their civilian status. An interview with a retired army general in Nigeria, Lieutenant General Alani Akinrinade, revealed that one of the major challenges with security in the ECOWAS region is due to the poor relationship between security agencies and civilians – an effect of the years of military rule. Akinrinade noted that this is in particular a vital challenge to preventing conflicts and security problems. He cited the incidences of religious extremism as well as kidnappings, noting that the actors of those heinous acts live within common people who are usually aware of what they do. To effectively police a state, he explained, requires joint efforts of prevention by both armed forces and civilians. He said

At every level of assessment, the different factors are critical and regarded as pointers to the kinds of situations that may facilitate peaceful development.

Local Level

Also known as the national level, it takes into consideration the internal features of a country. Such features (or factors) that are believed to have influence on the internal workings help to explain or predict the likelihood of continued peace or war in a country. Those features include religion, ethnicity, clamour for power, competition for resources, poverty, and geography. The importance of each of these features (or factors) will depend on the nature of the war or peace at the given moment in that country.

Much research has gone into studying the nature of modern warfare. Kaldor (2007) observed that factors that play a role in causing and sustaining wars include crime, self-seeking motives, poor national economy, unemployment or underemployment, and fragile