ABSTRACT

The regionalisation of conflict management in Africa is emerging as a major feature of post-Cold War Africa. This chapter outlines and critically engages with the emerging phenomena of co-operative security, co-deployment and burden-sharing between the United Nations and regional organisations in conflict management and resolution in Africa. It discusses the regional security complex which the states are locked into, and the nature and dynamics of humanitarian intervention in complex political emergencies (CPEs). The chapter explores several pertinent issues. The pertinent issues include the often controversial role and interest of sub-regional hegemons or pivotal states in leading military interventions cast in humanitarian or for human protection purposes. The post-Cold War period and the multiplicity of complex political emergencies have impacted on the debate on humanitarian intervention. Regional patterns of co-operative security, conflict management and resolution are emerging as a major feature of post-Cold War international politics as demonstrated by intra-African conflict management interventions.