A Theoretical Analysis of Security-Led Integration: The Case of Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Background: The traditional regional organization in Africa mostly focuses and rally around economic integration and democratic governance, unlike the Alliance of the Sahel States (AES) which is a defense pact focused on collective defense, regime survival, and resistance to external influence. The AES was founded in 2023 by Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali through the Liptako-Gourma Charter. Objective: This article performs a theoretical analysis of the AES case as an example of integration led by security concerns. Method: Secondary data from official charters, ECOWAS protocols, think tank reports, and academic writings were analyzed. With this data, the study applies the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) to analyze the historical background, institutional frameworks, and theoretical implications of the AES. Results: The analysis illustrates that the AES was created as a direct response to the sanctions and Jihadist insurgencies as well as fragile borders. However, it also acts as a counter-narrative to the ECOWAS and African Union democratic frameworks. The analysis also shows that the AES acts as a response to ‘crisis regionalism’, a term which describes a Jihadist insurgency and fragile borders in which there is cooperation based on threats rather than economic convergence. This depicts both the possibilities and the limitations of integration with a security first approach. Conclusions: The article concluded that, states from a conceptual standpoint, the AES challenges existing regional integration theories like neofunctionalism by emphasizing survival issues as the center of regionalism.