The African Union’s Involvement in Conflict Resolution in Some ECOWAS Countries Master’s Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Graduate Program in Global Studies Wellington Nyangoni, Advisor Richard Parmentier, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Global Studies By Esther Chollom Jack February, 2014 Acknowledgement I would like to first of all give glory to God Almighty for enabling me to begin this program and also for seeing me through. Next, I would like to thank my mentors, Elder Bolaji Anani and Barrister Victor Kwon for providing my first semester’s fees. In the same vein, I deeply appreciate my brother-in-law Mr. Haruna Bot Fom and his lovely wife, my elder sister Cecelia Fom for taking care of my second semester fees. May God Almighty repay you immensely for sowing into my life. My gratitude also goes to my advisors Professors Wellington Nyangoni and Richard Parmentier for their wealth of advice and support during the course of the program and even much more during the course of writing this thesis. Sirs, your invaluable support and advice are appreciated. May God bless you with more wisdom and understanding. I would like to say thank you to my teachers; Professors Chandler Rosenberger, Laura Miller, Jefferey Prottas, Ricardo Godoy, David Steel, and Deniz Civril for imparting knowledge into my life. I am a better person today because you were there to teach me. In the same vein, I would like to show appreciation to my international advisor Bonnie Ryle for believing in me. Thank you for the times you took extra steps to make sure I maintained my status at school. Bonnie, you are the best. My appreciation also goes to Rosella Carrelli, Aneil Triparthy and Simone Parker for helping me with the editing of the thesis. I will not forget to mention my educational advisers from the US embassy in Nigeria; Aunty Folashade Adebayo, and Mr. Dalhatu Hamza for guiding me through my school search, applications and travel processes. I also acknowledge my beloved mother Mrs. Saratu Jack for her prayers and encouragement, and my son Abel Jack who has been a great source of inspiration to me. ii Finally, I want to appreciate my pastors Victor Vincent, Amin Zaigi, Jonathan Thani, Gadzama; my friends Motolani Mathew, Kpeburga Binga, Priscilla Songden, Ayodele Sabitu, and my siblings Elisha Chollom Jack, Chundung Jack, Blessing and Grace Monday, and Lydia Wurim for your support, encouragements and prayers throughout this one year of studies. May The Lord enrich your lives in Jesus’ name. iii Abstract The African Union’s Involvement in Conflict Resolution in some ECOWAS countries A thesis presented to the Graduate Program in Global Studies Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts by Esther Chollom Jack The African Union is the largest Pan-African organization that is saddled with the task of uniting the African continent through economic integration in order to create self reliance among its citizens. However, the Union has faced a number of challenges with regards to destructive civil wars that have riddled the continent since the dawn of independence, especially immediately after the cold war of the 1990s. The African Union established a commission for Reconciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, but due to certain structural clauses in its charter, the commission was limited in its role. So, as the watch dog of the African nation, the Union established Regional Economic Communities (RECs), one of which is the Economic Community of West African States, and mandated them to find the means of resolving conflicts within their regions. This is based on the understanding that the RECs understand their terrains better than external parties. ECOWAS became the first REC to launch a forced intervention through its military arm, the ECOMOG, first in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and subsequently in the rest of the region. The organization faced a number of challenges while executing its mandate. These include the lack of unity among the intervening forces and the lack of funding to provide logistics needed to execute its missions successfully. These notwithstanding, the ECOWAS forces received reinforcements from the United Nations and the British army under the Palliser iv program, which helped to calm the situations in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the rest of the region. Subsequently, fruitful negotiations were initiated and peace accords were signed by the warring parties to end the conflicts. Although there is relative peace in the ECOWAS region today, this study was carried out in order to find means of attaining lasting and sustainable peace and stability so that meaningful developmental activities can take place in the region. v Table of Contents Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………………...ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………....vi List of Abbreviations/Acronyms………………………………………………………………....ix CHAPTER ONE: Background 1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………2 1.1 Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………...2 1.2 Research Question…………………………………………………………………….3 1.3 Objectives of the study………………………………………………………………..3 1.4 The Significance of the study……..…………………………………………….…….3 1.5 The Scope of the study…………………..……………………………………….…...4 1.6 Limitations of the study………………………………………………………………4 1.7 Research Methodology……………………………………………………………….5 1.8 The Itinerary………………………………………………………………………….6 CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review 2.0 An Overview of West Africa.......…………………………………………………………….8 2.1 The Emergence of Pan-Africanism…………………………………………………..9 vi 2.2 The Establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the African Union (AU)……………………………………………….………………………….12 2.3 Regional Integration in West Africa………………………………………………....21 2.3.1 The Processes of Regional integration….................................................24 2.4 The Establishment of ECOWAS……………………………………………………24 2.4.1 Economic Integration in ECOWAS....…………………………………..26 2.4.2 ECOWAS Macroeconomic Integration………………………………….29 CHAPTER THREE: Conflicts and Conflict Resolutions in ECOWAS 3.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….………….32 3.1 Nature and Goals of Conflicts………………………………………………………..33 3.2 Causes and Types of Conflicts……………………………………………………….35 3.3 Theories of Conflict Resolution……………………………………………………...37 3.3.1 The Needs-based Theory….…………………...……………………...…37 3.3.2 The Interest-based Theory……………………………………………….38 3.3.3 The Theory of Conflict Transformation…………………………………39 3.3.4 The Power-based and Rights-based Theories……………………………39 3.3.5 The Types of Conflict Resolution Mechanisms…………...……………..41 3.4 The ECOWAS Mechanisms for Conflict Resolution………………………………..42 3.5 Analysis of the Conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone……………………………….46 3.6 An analysis of the Conflict in French Guinea………………………………………..54 3.7 An Analysis of the Conflict in Cote d’Ivoire………………………………………...56 3.8 An Analysis of the Conflict in Guinea-Bissau……………………………………….59 vii 3.9 The Impacts of the Conflict on the Region…………………………………………..64 3.10 The Roles of the AU/ECOWAS in the Resolutions of the Conflicts……………65 CHAPTER FOUR: The impact of ECOWAS Humanitarian Intervention in the warring countries 4.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...70 4.1 The Concept of Humanitarian Intervention………………………………………....71 4.2 The Concept of National Sovereignty…………………………………………….…73 4.3 The Concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P)……………………………….…….74 4.4 The Impact of Humanitarian Intervention in the ECOWAS Region………………...75 4.5 ECOWAS Justification for the Intervention ……….………………………………..77 4.6 The Successes of the Humanitarian Intervention by ECOWAS……………………..79 4.7 The Failure of Some of the Humanitarian Mission..…………...…………………....80 4.8 The Challenges of Humanitarian Intervention/Conflict Resolution in the ECOWAS Region………………………………………………………………………………..82 4.9 Summary/Conclusion……………………………………………………………..…85 4.10 Recommendation………………..………………………………………………87 References/Bibliography……………………………………………...…………………90 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS OAU Organization of African Unity AU African Union ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ECOMOG ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group RUF Revolutionary United Front NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia UN United Nations UNIA Universal Negro Improvement Association ACL African Community League CIS Community of Independent States UAS Union of African States USA United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republic PAFMECA Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa EU European Union ix CAAU Constitutive Act of African Union PSC Peace and Security Council REC Regional Economic Council AMU Maghreb Union COMESA Common Market for Eastern CEN-SAD Southern Africa Community of Sahel-Saharan States EAC East African Community ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States IGAD Intergovernmental Authority for Development SADC Southern African Development Community MARIUN Mano River Union FTA Free Trade Area CET Common External Tariff MU Monetary Union UEMOA Union Economique Monitaire Ouest d’Africain FCCD Fund for Cooperation, Compensation, and Development x TLS Trade Liberalization Schemes EBID ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development SMC Standing Mediation Committee ICJ International Court of Justice ICC International Criminal Court AAFC Allied Armed Forces of the Community ANAD Agression et d’Assistance en matiere de Defense MAD Mutual Defense Assistance