The Hisorical Research Of Security Mechanism In Ecowas

When the ECOWAS founded originally, it was a organization of economic cooperation and integration, however, since the turbulent situations happened in West Africa frequently, ECOWAS began to take part in the intervention of the conflicts and seek to resolve the problems, so as to find a way to peacekeeping. And then it changed its original economic position to a political security organization. This thesis studies the establishment and development of the security mechanism from a perspective of peacekeeping. After adoption, ECOMOG began to intervene under the mechanism. Through studying some cases, we can see how the security mechanism impacts and affects the interventions which ECOMOG did and analyze the still existed constraints and the facing challenges, and then conclude the prospects in the future.This thesis divided into four parts. Firstly, it introduces the background of the foundation of ECOWAS and the signing-out protocols in order to make efforts to help in the turbulent West Africa; secondly, through the ECOMOG’s interventions in some countries before1990s, discusses the peacekeeping actions, the procedure and developments of peacekeeping, what impacts it produced and which constraints existed; thirdly, discusses the foundation procedure, the aims, the composition and the functions of the security mechanism respectively and then the modalities of the security’s implementation, by analyzing some detailed cases in order to test the mechanism; last but not least, discusses the challenges ECOWAS faced in peacekeeping movements and the prospects that ECOWAS has as the role of security architecture in West Africa.In conclusion, the creation of ECOWAS is imperative in the history of West Africa, it became the first sub-regional organization that West African countries make to enforce peacekeeping, and it’s playing an important role in this field. And during the procedure, it is believed that it changed to be more positive and permanent in peacekeeping, rather than passivity or temporary ones, and even set up a series of standardization and institutionalization to ensure the implementation of peacekeeping. Now the security mechanism is developing gradually, however, the effect is not so satisfied, the reasons lie in the constraints and problems it faces, including the relationship between sovereignty and intervention, the gap between the capacity resource and aspiration, the lack of the domination country in the sub-region, the relationship between UN and the external powers, etc. Whether the security mechanism in ECOWAS can go further and grow up really, the key lies in the level of resolve these problems.