The dangers of regionalising international conflict management: The African experience

Since the end of the Cold War intractable civil wars have emerged as a primary challenge to international peace and security. Following the disastrous Somalia peace enforcement operation, the United Nations has promoted a two-tier, or task-sharing, conflict management system. Under this approach, it is envisaged that regional organisations, such as the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) will assume primary responsibility for mediation, peacekeeping, and peace enforcement initiatives in their own region. The UN, for its part, will most likely play a coordinating role which includes authorising, monitoring, and supporting regional operations. In this article, I shall argue that regionalising international conflict management is an inadequate response to the unique challenges posed by civil wars. Regional organisations are designed primarily for dealing with inter-state disputes between their members, and ill-equipped for civil war situations. The UN's two-tier system is most fully developed in the African setting, where seven regional peacekeeping operations have been undertaken since 1990. These operations and their institutional innovations most vividly illustrate the present dangers of the regional approach to contemporary international conflict management. Nevertheless, regional organisations can play a valuable role in conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction if they adhere to a strict set of guidelines.