The emerging role of SADC and other regional arrangements in the maintenance of international peace and security : an historical-comparative study

Abstract

The research is an attempt to investigate the emerging role of regional arrangements in the maintenance of international peace and security from a time perspective and through a comparative analysis. The emphasis is on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The research treats regionalism as a topical concept in present day international efforts to achieve peace and security in diverse parts of the world. Another important issue is that of the 'expansion of tasks' which has found increasing currency in the New world Order as regional arrangements broaden their concerns so as to embrace new ones that were not conceived at the time when the organizations were established. The study looks at how the UN Charter legalizes regional arrangements to help maintain international peace and security, and offers theoretical suggestions why states forego part of their sovereignty to join regional organizations. The historical perspective examines several organizations: The Organization of American States (OAS), the Arab League, the Warsaw Pact, and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The comparative approach selects the following criteria: Treaties and their founding principles, genuflection to UN Charter principles, the presence of the hegemon, and resources for conflict management and resolution. The research treats the geopolitics of regional arrangements by selecting what may termed leading historical cases which lay the foundation for the study of regional arrangements in international law and politics. For regionalism in the New World Order, the study focuses on defining moments of the Post-Cold War era, investigating several cases which illustrate how regional arrangements have taken the promotion of international peace and security in their own hands.