ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the agency of external actors in political affairs, peace and regional security. The chapter provides empirical evidence for the third phase of the investigated causal process. External actors primarily provide capacity building support to the ECOWAS Commission, with only limited support accruing to the member states. To understand the impact of external agency on policy making, this chapter analyzes the dynamics of ECOWAS’s external relations both from the perspective of the Commission, as well as that of external actors. The properties of ECOWAS’s external environment, specifically the number and diversity of external actors, as well as the types of support available, are considered once more. To analyze the de facto influence of external agency, the policy cycle is again used as a heuristic and concrete instances of external actor agency identified. External support is again coherent with the resource constraints experienced by the Commission.
