Regionalism, Security and Development in Africa

This book charts the history and contemporary landscape of African regionalism, investigating how regional cooperation can be used to help to tackle security and development challenges in Africa.Africa has a long tradition of regional cooperation, with the oldest trade and monetary integration schemes in the developing world, but the colonial period and partition of Africa has caused lasting damage that still be seen in today's African economies. Contemporary post-colonial African regionalism, deeply rooted in notions of pan-Africanism, has served as a means of collective self-reliance and economic transformation and development. This book starts with the history and theory behind African regionalism, before discussing and comparing regional organisations such as the African Union, ECCAS, ECOWAS, CEN-SAD and the AMU. Finally, the book turns to consider how regional integration and cooperation can help to address security and development challenges.This ambitious and broad-ranging book will be a valuable resource for researchers working on African regionalism, security, African integration and development and comparative regionalism. Policy makers should also consider this a useful guide to the background and contemporary landscape of African regionalism.