REGARD RETROSPECTIF SUR L’ARCHITECTURE DE PAIX ET DE SECURITE EN AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST

Abstract

Security in West Africa, as well as across the African continent, remains a major challenge for stability and development. This reality persists despite the establishment, since the 1990s of various legal and institutional mechanisms, both at the continental level with the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and at the sub-regional level through ECOWAS. However, a persistent gap between stated objectives and the actual effectiveness of these mechanisms remains evident, particularly in the face of emerging forms of conflict such as terrorism, coups d’état, and institutional crises. Accordingly, two main questions arise: to what extent has APSA, whose objective is to promote African ownership of peace and security issues, effectively responded to crisis situations? And how can West African mechanisms, particularly those of ECOWAS, be optimally articulated with the continental framework to ensure durable and sovereign security in West Africa?