Military Alliances and Cooperation: The African Experience

Human security involved multiple countries allied together in defensive or offensive groups from the shifting military alliances of the Peloponnesian and Corinthian wars of ancient Greece to the Axis and Allies of World War II and so studying the fabric of alliances is necessary for understanding African (in) stability. The main thrust of this study is to give content to military alliances and cooperation in Africa with focus on regional organizations. The study reviewed the history of military alliances, examined regional organizations in Africa, conceptualized and contextualized military professionalism, geopolitics and African International Relations; with a view to establishing how and why they influenced military alliance. It also explained terms related to the subject area of military alliance, and, indicated points of divergence. The analysis highlighted peculiar security threats to Africa and how they challenged the military approach to security within the context of African experience, linking the implications to the importance of human security to military alliance and cooperation. It concluded that focus on neutralizing physical threats, contending political interests and overwhelming dependence on military hardware are identifiable defects in regional African military alliances and cooperation, which would advance alliances and corporation in various field of studies.