Ambiguous Order: Military Forces in African States

Faced with a growing crisis of military insecurity, some African states have actually collapsed while others are threatened by ongoing insurgencies. This original work examines three potential options for increasing state security in contemporary Africa: regional military groupings, private security companies, and a continent-wide, professional peacekeeping force. A case study of ECOMOG in Liberia and Sierra Leone examines the possibilities for regional military cooperation. Analysis of the infamous Executive Outcomes? operations in Angola and Sierra Leone raises the provocative question of whether mercenaries contribute to national security in the long run. The book also includes an assessment of the developing Africa Crisis Response Initiative, the first continental and rapidly deployable peacekeeping force in Africa.Howe explores these alternatives within the larger context of why African militaries have proven incapable of handling new types of insurgency; how the failed intervention in Somalia has limited Western efforts to act in subsequent crises, such as the genocide in Rwanda; and how African attempts to redefine ?sovereignty? provide philosophical justification for armed intervention in the internal affairs of other states. Based on extensive travel in African war zones, his findings provide an important contribution to the growing field of African security.Contents: Introduction: Changing Security Patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Roots and Results of African Military Unprofessionalism. Africa?s Ongoing Security Predicament. ECOMOG and Regional Peacekeeping. Executive Outcomes and Private Security. ACRI: U.S. Support of African Military Professionalism. Conclusion: Toward Restoring the Civil-Military Divide.