PERSPECTIVE| REGIONAL SECURITY POLICY IN WEST AFRICA ECOWAS in Crisis Mode Strengths and limits of regional security policy in West Africa SEBASTIAN SPERLING February 2011 n The Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) has reacted resolutely and unanimously to the crises in Guinea, Niger and Côte d’Ivoire. Its member states have widely accepted the promotion and enforcement of democratic principles as a common task. n The ad-hoc crises management comes at the expense of the long-term development of structures needed to cope with such crises; e.g. a coherent action plan in the field of peace and security as well as mediation capacities and effective sanctioning and intervention capabilities. n The ECOWAS security architecture moreover exhibits blind spots and displays defi­cits in terms of internal democracy, which pose a danger to the integrity of the organisation. n International support for the African Peace and Security Architecture needs to focus more on the interfaces between the African Union and regional organisations as well as those between regional organisations and national policy making.