West African regional security in the post Liberian conflict era : issues and perspectives

The paper attempts to analyse ECOWAS’ security regime’s first major effort towards enforcing compliance with its norms and values. The recent resolution of the Liberian conflict and Charles Taylor’s election to the Presidency may give cause for satisfaction but this paper argues that this may be premature as a result of what we see as the ethical questions that may arise. In the light of this, we attempt an analytical discourse which seeks to question the rationales behind the election of Charles Taylor. We raise some challenges on the likely implications of this, not only for Liberia but the West African regional Security scene as a whole by using the Sierra Leonean case as an example. Our analysis of reconstruction and reconciliation strategies being implemented by the government shows that these should not be taken at face value. This analysis is based on historical antecedents in Africa, as experienced in Idi Amin’s Uganda, Mobutu’s Zaire and Doe’s Liberia.[Author's abstract]

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