ECOWAS' Role as a Security Organization: The Case of Sierra Leone
Date
2012-05-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
In 1975, ECOWAS was formed primarily as a regional economic bloc. Through a careful remaking of the original treaty and the addition of new Protocols, it managed to metamorphose into a security organization that ultimately intervened in the humanitarian crisis then unfolding in the West African nation of Sierra Leone. This thesis argued the premise that the intervention was justified for two basic reasons. First, that ECOWAS’ founding treaty (including the Protocols) to which all 16 member countries are signatories, gave it the right to do so. Second, the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect provided the legal, moral and diplomatic basis for the intervention.
The utility of this study lies in the idea that it brings to the fore the concept of African solutions for African problems. The ECOWAS mission in Sierra Leone was the first of its kind anywhere in Africa, and it just may be the impetus needed for Africans to come up with novel ideas to resolve some of the myriad issues confronting the continent.
Description
Keywords
ECOWAS, Protocol, Responsibility to Protect, Humanitarian Crisis, West Africa, African Union, Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leone, Responsibility to Prevent, Responsibility to React, ECOMOG.
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Political Studies
Program
Political Science