Transversal Politics and West African Security By Moya Collett A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Sciences and International Studies University of New South Wales, 2008 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed Moya Collett…………….............. Date 08/08/08……………………….............. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed Moya Collett……………........................... Date 12/11/08………………………........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed Moya Collett……………........................... Date 12/11/08………………………........................... Abstract This thesis analyses conflict dynamics in West Africa and assesses the role of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a security organisation in its response to armed conflict. In so doing, it argues that conventional approaches misinterpret key feature of the civil wars in the “Greater Mano River Area” which includes Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire. It demonstrates that the progression and spread of conflict is engendered primarily by transversal political structures. The thesis utilises a critical international society approach to consider patterns of security and insecurity across the sub-region of West Africa. However, rather than accepting that West African politics operates within a single, comprehensive international society, it argues instead that it should be understood at two levels. One level is state-centric international society, where West African inter- state relations can largely be explained according to existing constructivist paradigms. At the second level is “transversal” society that cuts across state borders, generating a regional, normative structure that prescribes and constrains behaviour within and between communities outside of the international society framework. The thesis proceeds in two parts. In the first section it works towards an understanding of the transversal politics of regional conflict in the Greater Mano River Area. Conflict is nominally internal, and centralised state authority is the object of both attack and transformation. However, a close examination of civil violence in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire reveals that it cannot be completely understood without recognising the non-state structures of authority and domination that disrupt the traditional domestic/international divide. The transversal communities generated by conflict create a regional cycle of violence that is resistant to efforts made to resolve it. The second section of the thesis is concerned with the ability of ECOWAS to foster durable peace. As West Africa’s key regional organisation, ECOWAS would seem well-placed to respond to regional conflict. It is well- integrated, has significant normative legitimacy and has developed sophisticated security mechanisms. Critically however, as it was created within inter-state international society, ECOWAS is limited by its assumption that states are and should remain unitary actors. Its failure ultimately lies in its inability to respond to the alternative political contours of transversal communities. In memory of Dominique Jacquin-Berdal an inspiration Acknowledgements My most heartfelt thanks go to my supervisor, Professor Marc Williams, a brilliant and exciting teacher with an uncanny ability to read my mind. Marc, I’m finding it hard to think of an occasion when your advice about thesis-writing and life wasn’t spot-on, even if I have sometimes tried to deny it! Your support has been invaluable, and I look forward to a life-long friendship with you. Thank you also to Associate Professor Tony Burke for your suggestions and direction, but more particularly for your continuing interest in my ideas, which is endlessly gratifying. Thank you to Associate Professor Anne Collett for reading yet more of my work on international relations. I love that thesis-supervision fits so comfortably under the heading of “motherly duties”! Thanks also to the rest of my family for your various amusing methods of support. I finally finished it. Thanks must also go to the University of New South Wales, particularly for providing the finances that made my fieldwork in West Africa possible. Thank you to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre for hosting me in Ghana and for providing me with the means to carry out fieldwork in Sierra Leone safely. Dr Kwesi Aning, thank you for all your help. Finally, thank you so much to the FASSerians who truly made this journey possible and who reminded me constantly that submission was a future, not a fiction. Von, Gen, Dan and Jared (all recent or imminent Drs), I could never imagine a more faithful friendship than yours. Thank you for helping me through the crises and for filling my world with laughter. i TRANSVERAL POLITICS AND WEST AFRICAN SECURITY TABLE OF CONTENTS MAP OF WEST AFRICA....................................................................................................................III ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................... IV INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND AND FOCUS ...................................................................................................................3 The Greater Mano River Area conflict network..............................................................................7 METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES...........................................................................................................10 An international society framework..............................................................................................11 A critical analysis of security........................................................................................................14 Fieldwork......................................................................................................................................15 KEY CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE THESIS .................................................................................................17 Theoretical contribution: IR theory and African studies ..............................................................17 Empirical contribution: Transversal structure of regional conflict..............................................21 Policy-oriented contribution: The limits of ECOWAS peacekeeping............................................23 STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY ...............................................................................25 PART I - INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY, TRANSVERSAL SOCIETY AND CONFLICT IN WEST AFRICA CHAPTER 1 – INTERNATIONAL AND TRANSVERSAL SOCIETY: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................................................................34 NORMS IN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY..................................................................................................34 Constructivism and international society......................................................................................34 Solidarist international society .....................................................................................................37 TRANSVERSAL SOCIETY AND TRANSVERSAL COMMUNITIES..............................................................40 Society and community..................................................................................................................41 Transnationalism and transversalism...........................................................................................43