Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 57 the Community Parliament are periodically presented to their colleagues in the Ghanaian Parliament. Examples include their active participation in the annual Ordinary Sessions as well as the Extraordinary Sessions of the Community Parliament. These are issues and developments relating to the ECOWAS sub-region, for instance, the need for the ratification of protocols and conventions that have been signed and those yet to enter into force; swearing-in of new members of the Community Parliament of member states; the various attempts at resolving the conflicts in some member-states, including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire; the crisis over the Bakasi Islands between Nigeria and Cameroon; general country reports on the state of affairs of member states; trade liberalisation scheme in the ECOWAS sub-region; loan agreements and other financial transactions between ECOWAS, the World Bank and other international financial institutions on the implementation of regional programs; the Government of Ghana and ECOWAS Bank Financing Agreement for Investment and Development for the Modernization of the Ghana Fire Service; among several others. Challenges and Coping Strategies for Ghanaian Representatives The sections above provide a broad overview of the processes of institutional development within the ECOWAS and the dynamics of integration, the roles and inherent challenges for our representatives as well as the opportunities for consolidation. A careful consideration of the prominent actors embedded in these processes reveal three levels or layers of power relations: the Ghanaian state; representatives of national parliaments and the institutional frameworks of integration(Community Parliament inclusive); and the ECOWAS as a supra-national actor. The Ghanaian State: The first layer is the sovereign State of Ghana, a founding member of the ECOWAS. Her behavior in a system of State actors predictably is to protect core values, primary among which include territorial integrity, sovereign existence and autonomous action within the international system. The state pursues certain vital interests in association with other actors where there is seemingly a convergence of those interests. 81 One of these primary interests is the survival of the Ghanaian state through the harnessing of the resources at its disposal. But since resources are limited and other actors can complement those that the country needs, there is the need for institutional collaboration. The opportunity to harmonise the individual strengths of the several actors towards the attainment of a larger public good has led to the foundation of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS). 81 For an analytical approach on issues pertaining to the national interest and the inter-state system, refer to the following works, among many others: D. Papp, Contemporary International Relations – A Framework for Understanding.(New York: Macmillan, 1991); Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics.(New York: McGraw­Hill, Inc, 1979); Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics among Nations- The Struggle for Power and Peace.(New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.,1993); J. Frankel, National Interest.(London: Pall Mall, 1970).