Understanding the Inner Life of African Regional Coalitions

Handbook of Regional Cooperation and Integration

“…'Coalitions of the willing' are increasingly relied upon as more flexible alternative regional security cooperation solutions to deal with national and transregional security challenges, such as in the fight against armed groups, criminality, and jihadism. The emergence of these coalitions, on the margins of the long-standing institutionalised associations, reflects states' political will to keep control over the situation, particularly in the event of a conflict that could call into question their legitimacy and prerogatives (Gnanguênon, 2021b). In most cases, they take advantage of the benefits of the long-term process of institutionalisation (Karlsrud and Reykers, 2020).…”