ECOWAS and regional security engineering in West Africa: between the complexity of conflicts and weak mechanisms

Abstract

The failure of the African Unity organization to settle conflicts, has led the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to direct its concerns to the security aspect and to activate its role in settling conflicts in its region, in line with the principle of African solutions to African problems, so in this context, according to the regional security complex and institutional approach, this study aimed to clarify the extent of the effectiveness of ECOWAS in achieving regional security, based on clarifying its efforts in settling internal conflicts and examining the response of its security institutions, to reach in conclusion that the complexity of conflicts and the weakness of the security structures represented by the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group caused by many structural and perceptual factors, they impeded the ability of ECOWAS to fully achieve security and peace in its territor