Introduction

Introduction

Many parts of West Africa have been embroiled in violent conflict from the late 1980s till the first years of the 21st century. Conflict theaters included Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Côte d’Ivoire. This has posed significant challenges to regional peace and security. In response the Security Council authorized a range of peace operations in the four affected countries. Some of these missions have gone through various transformations since their inception in line with the evolution of the situation on the ground in their respective mandated scope of operation. The four country-specific missions authorized by the Council in West Africa are the:

• UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL);

• UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI);

• UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL); and

• UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS).

In 2001 the UN established a special regional Office in West Africa (UNOWA) to address the cross-border nature of certain challenges in West Africa and to monitor peace and security issues arising in the region that might require its attention but were not already on the Council agenda.

The threats to sub-regional stability which assumed ascendancy in the 1990s and first part of the 21st century included military and political adventurism, ethnic divisions and illegal exploitation of natural resources. These were intensified by serious socio- economic constraints, weak state institutions and the prevalence of illegal arms trafficking and mercenarism.

Most of the countries that experienced violent conflict during the period have now recently entered into an era of peace consolidation and peace building, albeit with continued fragile security. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau are currently all on the agenda of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC).

Some of the old challenges to regional peace and security remain, in varying degrees and numbers, in many of the 16 countries that constitute the sub-region. However, it has become apparent in very recent times that a number of relatively “new” potential drivers of conflict have been emerging. It is this latter phenomenon that this study has been designed to address, to identify and analyze the key emerging challenges, especially with regard to how these new challenges could impact the work of the Council (and regional organizations) in the current decade and how in turn the Council could respond to them.

Four major emerging security threats have been identified in the West African sub-region:

1. Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime

2. Terrorism

3. Challenges to Democratic Governance

4. Piracy

It must be noted that at the global level the “emerging threats” are not new issues. However, they have gained prominence in West Africa in recent years due to the significant scale in which they are beginning to be felt in the sub-region and the consequent challenges to regional stability that they now pose.

West Africa’s Security Vulnerability

Despite the considerable progress made in development and peace consolidation in some parts of West Africa (and in some instances the notable democratic and socioeconomic advances) and notwithstanding the fact that some countries, such as Ghana, have no history of violent national civil conflict, it seems that there are apparent structural deficiencies which have made much of the region particularly susceptible to the emerging threats. These vulnerabilities include weak border control systems (leading to porous territorial boundaries), the inability of criminal justice systems to ensure effective operation of the rule of law and inadequate coordination and information-sharing among relevant national agencies, as well as limited institutional cooperation across borders with neighboring countries.

The above weaknesses seem to be the result, in large measure, of years of economic mismanagement and lack of social investment, exacerbated by civil wars, which in some contexts have significantly diminished human capital, social infrastructure and productive national development assets. Also, the historical factors of corrosive nationalism and the diverse colonial inheritance, with different legislative and cultural affiliations, as well as with their different national territories often not coinciding with traditional ethnic groups (and some with historical animosities), has contributed significantly to the vulnerability.

These vulnerabilities seem to have exposed the sub-region to the emergence of relatively new threats to peace and security and to undermine the capacity of the sub-region to respond adequately to the impact of drugs, terrorism and piracy.

General Conclusions

Identifiable inter-linkages between the various emerging threats are highlighted in this report, as well as their linkages with the existing security challenges in the sub-region. Drug money laundered in the region funds the transit activity including the sustenance and expansion of drug trafficking networks, but is also a latent source of funding for violent insurrections, religious militancy and terrorism. It has also enabled the hollowing of state institutions from the inside out, through corruption of government officials and made affected countries susceptible to becoming “narco-states”. A related latent consequence is the potential for violent reaction resulting from disaffection about the socioeconomic disparities created by the infusion of drug money. Negative trends due to structural deficiencies in the region have meant that the smuggling of arms, drugs and contraband, widespread corruption and poor governance can be exploited by terrorist organizations’ operatives, and the lines between Islamic militancy and organized crime and piracy can become blurred. High levels of youth unemployment, illegal arms trafficking, weak naval policing and socio-political disaffection have provided an enabling environment for criminal gangs engaged in piracy in West Africa. The exploitation of underlying socio- economic challenges and ethnic differences, as well as possible funding by drug trafficking networks and relatively easy access to illegal weapons have influenced recent challenges to democratic governance in the region.

Efforts to effectively redress the emerging challenges will have to be primarily taken by the nation at immediate risk in the sub-region. However, this cannot be effective unless it is buttressed by strategic international partnerships. Continued proactive action by the UN Security Council, since regional peace and security is at stake, would be a helpful contribution.

Renewed momentum in the Council on these issues is therefore an important option, especially if it includes a comprehensive approach to addressing the identified threats as they span interrelations between conflict prevention, peacebuilding and peacekeeping activities and development.

Key elements of a comprehensive approach have been identified in past Council decisions, including the interdependence of the rule of law and human rights with security and development.

Fine tuning the appropriate role for the Council under the UN Charter, in relation to these threats to security in West Africa, and how to respond in partnership with regional and sub-regional organizations will be a test of the Council’s capacity to adapt to 21st century needs.