Regionalism in Africa and External Partners : Uneven Relationships and (Un)Intended Effects

"This volume offers systematic research on regionalism in Africa and explores the role and impact of external partners on the dynamics, institutional design, and performance of regional integration projects. It acknowledges and elaborates the multilevel and multidimensional nature of regionalism, with its variety of cooperative institutions and policy areas, while closely considering uneven relationships to external actors in African regional organizations. The book's two comprehensive mapping studies examine patterns of asymmetric inter-dependence between regionalism in Africa and external partners in Europe, with a focus on trade and donor funding, and highlight structural imbalances and (un)intended consequences. Five additional case studies provide in-depth analyses of a variety of African regional organizations, mainly with a focus on security regionalism, and elaborate how external partners influence and affect integration processes and projects. Although regionalism in Africa benefitted from external relations and partnerships with Europe, contributions in this volume question this positive impression, highlighting some of the major undermining factors and actors." Preface Contents Notes on Contributors Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables Part I Introduction 1 Introduction and Theorising: Regionalism and External Actors State of Research: Regionalism and External Actors Terminology: Regionalism, Regional Organisations and Regional Governance Regionalism Regional Organisations Regional Governance Theory: Explaining Regionalism and External Influence—A Situation-Structural Approach The Logic of Regionalism: Internal Line of the Argument The Logic of Regionalism: External Line of the Argument Plan of the Book References Part II Comprehensive Mapping Studies 2 Regional Trade Regimes in Africa: Exploring Organisational Overlap and Externalities Introduction The Inter-Organisational Turn Conceptualising Externalities in IO Interaction Externalities in African Trade: How Relevant Are They? How Are Externalities Influencing IO Overlap? Organisational Overlap in Africa Externalities at the Cross and Sub-Regional Level The Role of the EU and Institutional Overlap Concluding Observations References 3 External Actors and Security Regionalism in Africa: A New Dataset on External Funding Introduction A New Dataset on External Funding of Regionalism in Africa Patterns of External Funding Donor Activities and Priorities Conclusion and Avenues for Future Research Appendix: Summary of Disbursements and Yearly Activities References Part III Case Studies 4 Actors and Ambitions in the European Union’s Security Policies Towards Africa The Analytical Framework and Methodological Reflections The Dependent Variable: EU’s Security Interventions in Africa The International Circumstances: The European Union and Africa—Threats and Strategic Environment Perceptions of Africa Among Foreign Policy Makers in the European Union Africa in the Strategic Culture of the European Union Africa and State-Society Relations Within the European Union Africa and the Domestic Government Institutions Concluding Reflections References 5 France, EU and the Security (Dis)integration of the African Union Introduction The AU Security Integration Framework: AEC and APSA France and the EU in the Regional (Dis)integration of the AU Conclusion References 6 Desert Rose or Fata Morgana? The G5 Sahel and Its Partnership with the European Union Introduction Conceptual Framework: Conditions of Regional Cooperation The G5 Sahel—A Regional Organisation for Promoting Security and Development Objectives and Ambitions Institutional Architecture of the G5 Sahel Two Main Flagship Projects—The Joint Force (JF) and the Priority Investment Programme (PIP) Explaining the Creation and Evolution of the G5 Sahel Regional Context—A Regional Power Vacuum as Antecedent Condition Drivers from Within the G5 Sahel Region The European Union and Its Member States: Key External Drivers of the G5 Sahel Conclusions and Outlook: A Desert Rose to Blossom or Shrivel? References 7 Evaluating the Effectiveness of the ECOWAS–EU Interregional Partnership on Peace and Security in the Context of the Mali Crisis Introduction The Africa–EU Partnership on Peace and Security A Framework for Evaluating Interregionalism and External Influence Assessing the Effectiveness of Interregional Security Cooperation Assessing the Effectiveness of ECOWAS–EU Cooperation in the Mali Crisis The Goals of ECOWAS–EU Cooperation in the Context of the Mali Crisis Internal Goal Attainment External Goal Attainment Overall Degree of Effectiveness of the ECOWAS-EU Engagement in Mali Conditions for Effective Interregional Security Cooperation in Response to the Mali Crisis Conducive Factors to the Effectiveness of the Partners’ Engagement Constraining Factors for the Effectiveness of the Crisis Management in Mali Conclusion References 8 Causes and Effects of External Support to Regional Organisations: The Case of EU Support to the ECOWAS Commission in Customs and Free Movement Introduction Regional Public Administrations and Institutional Support—Two Neglected Phenomena Why Do Regional Institutions Accept External Institutional Support—An Inter-Organisational Approach Resource Dependence Transaction Cost Support to Regional Public Administrations—A Global Phenomenon The ECOWAS Commission—A Critical Case of External Institutional Support EU External Institutional Support in the Directorate of Customs EU External Institutional Support in the Directorate of Free Movement and Migration Conclusion References Part IV Conclusions 9 Conclusion Empirical Findings: The Ambivalent Impact of European Actors on Regionalism in Africa Implications for Theory and Policy Advice References Index