Regional Organizations and Sovereignty in
Africa: Challenges and Possibilities
Captain Sunnie Brownell, USAF
From 24 Feb 03 to 7 Mar 03, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, DoD's Africa Center for
Strategic Studies brought together roughly 120 high-ranking officials from the militaries,
defense ministries, and foreign service ministries of most of the countries of Africa.
Representatives from US and European governmental and civil service organizations
also participated in the conference, whose purpose was to provide a non-attribution
forum in which African leaders could hear distinguished guests provide their thoughts
on issues of democratic governance and security, and then engage each other in
discussions about their own experiences with these issues.
The syllabus for the conference consisted of three modules: security studies, civil-
military relations, and defense economics. Throughout the modules, I noticed that the
program participants with whom I interacted frequently revisited one particular concern:
the role of regional and subregional organizations in security issues, and how this role
could be balanced with sovereignty norms.
Participants cited several unresolved examples, one being the current situation in
Zimbabwe. Diplomatically, the international community seems to have almost uniformly
decried Robert Mugabe's alleged human rights violations and his role in destabilizing
the country's agricultural base. However, there has been a variety of opinion on the
best way to show disapproval, yet still use diplomacy to pressure changes in the
regime.
French president Jacques Chirac, for example, was widely criticized for inviting
Mugabe to participate in a French summit on Africa in February 2003. Many believe that
inviting him construed tacit approval of his undemocratic practices. On the other hand,
some African leaders acknowledge that recognition of Mugabe is problematic, but
believe that negotiations with him will have a better chance of effecting reform than
ostracism.
Some conference participants expressed the idea that the AU or SADC had a
responsibility to improve the situation in Zimbabwe, even if this entailed the use of
force. Several made the point that military interventions in countries facing unrest are
often initiated at the request of the government, but that in this case, there was little
chance that that would happen. There was widespread support among conference
participants for the idea that human rights should always take priority over support for
regimes that violate them. However, aside from issues of the limited resources of
organizations like the AU and SADC, these valid points raised a difficult question
concerning the appropriateness of intervention in consideration of traditional
sovereignty norms.
First, some participants pointed to the collapse of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo as an example of the ill effects of the violation of territorial integrity. While
underlying causes with a much longer history were at play, a certain proximate cause
has been the encroachment into DRC by neighbors citing political causes but partially
motivated by financial ones.
Second, some countries noted that intervention could be a mechanism by which
aspiring regional hegemons could legally gain access to and influence a particular
country. This access might provide a disincentive to help as much as possible to
resolve a situation and leave the country. One conference participant expressed his
experience of his country attempting to help neighbors but being rebuffed, even when
only proposing diplomatic measures. He believed that his country was sometimes
perceived as aggressively seeking a hegemonic role in the region.
This fear was related to the hesitancy of placing too much authority in a regional
organization. Some people noted the potential that international organizations have for
becoming simple tools for more powerful members to use against smaller members.
This was an interesting idea given the events taking place at the time: in February, the
media was heavily covering US efforts to win votes on the UN Security Council for a
resolution on war with Iraq.
Participants expressed a wide range of opinions and anecdotes concerning the
potential of and the limits for regional organizations in intra-state conflicts and state-
people conflicts. However, the norms of sovereignty seem to have taken on a more fluid
nature in the past ten years. Until they become more stable, the role of regional
organizations is likely to remain unclear.
2004, Foreign Area Officer Association Herndon,
Virginia Maintained by LTC Steve
Gotowicki. http://www.faoa.org
