REGIONAL COLLECTIVE SECURITY IN EAST AFRICA: BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRATION AND GEOPOLITICAL RIVALRIES: ANALYSIS OF THE EAC SECURITY PARADOX IN EASTERN DRC

Authors: Mireine Lobanga Yaombiti*, Mwayila Tshiyembe, Kadiebwe Mulonda & Agenonga Chobair

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the security paradox that characterizes the action of the East African Community (EAC) in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A member of this regional organization since March 2022, the DRC expected a significant improvement in its security situation. However, the persistence of armed violence and the resurgence of the March 23 Movement (M23) reveal the limits of regional integration as an instrument of stabilization. Through the theories of regional security complexes and neoclassical realism, this research demonstrates that the collective security objectives of the EAC clash with the geopolitical, economic and strategic interests of some member states. The analysis reveals that the coexistence between institutional mechanisms of cooperation and the pursuit of contradictory national agendas generates a security paradox where the regional organization simultaneously becomes a space for cooperation and a theater of geopolitical rivalries. The study concludes that effective collective security in East Africa requires overcoming diverging interests and strengthening regional security governance mechanisms.

Keywords: Collective security, regional integration, security paradox, East African Community, Democratic Republic of Congo, regional security complexes.

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