CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

In the summer of 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo set off a chain of alliance commitments that pulled the major European powers into a war that eventually killed millions of people. The episode raised a question that has shaped the study of international relations ever since: can the international system be organised so that aggression is deterred or stopped before a local crisis becomes a general war?

Peace and security remain a major challenge in Africa and the world. Scholars attribute violent conflict to many causes, including political competition, scarcity of resources, border disputes, nationalism and irredentism. The consequences include loss of life and property, human rights abuses, displacement and refugee flows that cross national boundaries and impose heavy costs on development at national, regional and international levels.

Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, states have understood security mainly as the protection of their sovereignty, values and citizens against external enemies. Over time, economic, political and diplomatic instruments have come to complement military power in international relations, and states have recognised that a stable regional and international environment is a precondition for economic development and social coexistence. This recognition underlies the idea of collective security, in which states agree to treat aggression against one as a matter of concern for all and to respond to it jointly. The League of Nations was the first universal attempt to build such a system, and after its failure the United Nations (UN) was created in 1945 with the maintenance of international peace and security as its first purpose and with collective measures against threats to the peace and acts of aggression as its main tool (United Nations, 1945, Art. 1(1)).

The UN Charter also assigns a role to regional arrangements. Chapter VIII encourages states to try to settle local disputes peacefully through regional arrangements before referring them to the Security Council, while Article 53 provides that regional bodies may not take enforcement action without the Council’s authorisation (United Nations, 1945, Arts. 52–53). This division of labour is the basis on which regional organisations such as the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the African Union (AU) and others have developed their own capacities to deal with security threats and disputes in their regions.

Africa has produced the largest number of boundary disputes of any continent, and although many are dormant, the grievances behind them often remain unresolved. The presence of such potential flashpoints is one reason for taking collective security seriously on the continent. In the Eastern Africa region, Rugendo (2013) counted four major wars over the previous century, and found little evidence that a regional or continental collective security mechanism had played a decisive part in preventing or stopping them. The 1998–2000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, for example, was ended through external mediation and a UN peacekeeping presence after fighting had caused heavy losses, and the AU was still in transition from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at the time (Rugendo, 2013).

The AU responded by building the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). The Peace and Security Council (PSC), established under a 2002 protocol that entered into force in December 2003, sits at the centre of the architecture, together with the African Standby Force (ASF), a continental early warning system, a Panel of the Wise and related bodies (Rugendo, 2013; Tlalka, 2014). The ASF is organised as five regional standby brigades, one of which is the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), and is intended to give the AU the capacity to intervene in conflicts and to support peace operations on the continent (Tlalka, 2014). Studies of the EASF have examined its structure, its organisation and its potential and shortcomings in the light of the security challenges of the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions (Tlalka, 2014; Tukwasibwe, 2022).

Recent developments show that the practical difficulties remain. The 2023 UN Security Council Resolution 2719 created a framework under which up to 75% of the financing of AU-led peace support operations could come from UN assessed contributions, case by case (Stimson Center et al., 2025). Nearly two years later, however, the Council had not yet authorised an AU-led operation that could draw on this funding (Stimson Center et al., 2025), and analysts point to unresolved questions about oversight, conditions and the funding gap (Tadesse & Russo, 2024). The AU’s own Peace and Security Council continues to stress, as recently as May 2026, the need for improved interoperability, readiness, logistics and rapid deployment, and for predictable, adequate and sustainable financing for the ASF (African Union Peace and Security Council, 2026). Commentators on the ASF’s record in Sudan have likewise argued that funding shortages and the rigidity of standby brigades limit its deployment efficiency, and that more flexible “just-in-time” coalitions are being discussed as an alternative (Ename Minko, 2025).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The Eastern Africa region has seen several major interstate wars in the last century and continues to face the risk of further interstate conflict (Rugendo, 2013). Boundary disputes, competition for natural resources, nationalism and irredentism create an atmosphere of mistrust and tension that could erupt when something triggers it. Conflicts in the region tend to be long-lasting and hold back economic growth and development, affecting neighbouring countries directly and indirectly. Many of the causes of past wars remain, and new factors such as mineral discoveries, large refugee populations and rapid population growth complicate them (Rugendo, 2013).

The AU, the regional economic communities and the UN have all tried to manage these tensions, but the collective security arrangements at regional, continental and global levels have not always been effective. The ASF and its regional brigades have developed more slowly than planned, and they remain constrained by questions of finance, interoperability and political commitment (African Union Peace and Security Council, 2026; Ename Minko, 2025; Tlalka, 2014). Unless these underlying problems are addressed and a credible collective security mechanism is put in place, the region risks continued conflict and a cycle of poverty that it cannot break.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The study examines the concept of collective security in African politics and assesses how far it applies in Africa, with specific reference to the Eastern Africa region. It also examines the prospects of the existing collective security mechanisms in the region, with a view to suggesting measures that would make them more capable, responsive and credible. The specific objectives are to:

1. explore the concept and theory of collective security;
2. evaluate the effectiveness of the UN security arrangements in addressing African security threats;
3. evaluate the effectiveness of the AU and ASF security arrangements in addressing security threats in the Eastern Africa region;
4. assess the prospects for collective security in the Eastern Africa region; and
5. recommend ways of developing a credible and responsive collective security mechanism in the Eastern Africa region.

1.4 Research Questions

The main question of the study is: what are the prospects for effective collective security in the Eastern Africa region? The following secondary questions, answered together, address the main question:

1. What regional collective security mechanism is in place in the Eastern Africa region?
2. What factors contribute to the success of collective security?
3. What factors contribute to the failure of collective security?
4. Has the UN adequately addressed the security problems of African states?
5. Is the AU security arrangement adequate to deal with the conflicts in the Eastern Africa region?

1.5 Definition of Terms

Aggression: The use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the UN Charter (United Nations General Assembly, 1974).

Aggressor: In this study, the state that first commits an act of aggression against another state, for example by invading its territory, attacking its forces, blockading its coast or supporting armed groups that invade it.

Collective security: An arrangement in which states agree to combine their power and act together against the illegal use of force in situations that threaten international or regional peace and security.

Conflict: A situation in which two or more parties, perceiving their goals to be incompatible, resort to violence or the threat of violence against one another.

Eastern Africa region: The group of states in eastern Africa covered by this study, following Rugendo (2013): Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and, since 2011, South Sudan.

African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA): The AU’s framework for preventing, managing and resolving conflict, of which the Peace and Security Council and the African Standby Force are central components (Tlalka, 2014).

African Standby Force (ASF): The AU’s continental peace and security force, organised as five regional standby brigades, including the Eastern Africa Standby Force (Tlalka, 2014).

References

African Union Peace and Security Council. (2026, May 15). Communiqué of the 1346th meeting on the update on the operationalization of the African Standby Force. https://amaniafrica-et.org/wp-content/uploads/1346.1.comm-EN.pdf

Ename Minko, A. (2025). The African Standby Force’s deployment efficiency in Sudan. ACCORD. https://www.accord.org.za/analysis/the-african-standby-forces-deployment-efficiency-in-sudan/

Rugendo, E. (2013). Prospects of collective security in the Eastern Africa region [Master’s thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College]. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA590568.pdf

Stimson Center, International Peace Institute, & Security Council Report. (2025, October 23). Partnership in peace operations: Implementing Resolution 2719. Stimson Center. https://www.stimson.org/2025/partnership-in-peace-operations-implementing-resolution-2719/

Tadesse, B., & Russo, J. (2024, September). UN support to African Union–led peace support operations: What next for Resolution 2719? International Peace Institute. https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2719-2-pager.pdf

Tlalka, K. (2014). East African standby force: Shortcomings and prospects for the future. In ECAS 2013 conference chapters. Centro de Estudos Internacionais, ISCTE-IUL. http://hdl.handle.net/10071/7542

Tukwasibwe, J. (2022). Eastern Africa standby force and security in the Great Lakes Region Makerere University. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12281/15627

United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter

United Nations General Assembly. (1974). Definition of aggression (Resolution 3314 (XXIX)).