Political Economy of Regionalization in Central Africa

An interesting phenomenon in the global political economy is that regional mechanisms have come to be considered the best policy response to globalisation and weak state capacity. As such, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have been heralded as the building blocks of the African Peace and Security Architecture. However, while other regions of the continent have made laudable progress towards economic and political integration, Central Africa is facing a human security crisis and regional integration seems and unattainable chimera rather than a reality. Ironically, the region is well endowed with natural resources. Against this backdrop, questions that need to be answered are: What explains the sad reality of human insecurity? Is regional integration a policy imperative that would redress the human security situation of the region? And if it is the answer, what form should regional integration take? This monograph does not pretend to provide unassailable answers to these questions. However, in drawing insights from new institutional economics, it argues that until there is a positive alignment between political security and human security, the region will continue to face a human security crisis. In attempting to explain the absence of deep integration, the monograph borrows insights from comparative political economy and argues that states in the region view regionalisation as an extension of domestic politics. As such, they must maintain a precarious balance between the potential long-term gains of regionalisation and the perceived short-term political cost to their survival. Furthermore, regionalisation in Central Africa has become a mechanism more often than not used to enhance regime security rather than human security.