Managing the Interface: Regional Security and Substate Politics in Africa

The relationship among Interpol, Africa ’s police chiefs, and their regional cooperation organizations offers a means to explore two long-standing issues in security studies: How should the interface between the various levels of security be characterized? Is the notion of regional security meaningful in Africa? Prompted by “new regionalism” and informed by Buzan and Wæver’s Regional Security Complex Theory, this article considers how police articulate and manage the national/international interface. It argues that in Africa regionalism cannot be separated from substate politics, for threat perception is location specific, and thematic coherence is to be found in legacy issues and personal relationships, rather than in international goals.