Fighting Security Challenges With Regional Cooperation
December 08, 2010
This weekend, Saudi Arabia will gather Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
countries and other Middle Eastern states to collaborate on fighting the
spread of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organizations. The
Saudi initiative reaffirms that regional cooperation is an emerging and powerful facet
of international politics, and that regional organizations are a proven
force against international security threats. This is not just
hyperbole; there is ample evidence worldwide to back it up.
Regional
teamwork is best illustrated by the progress made in Europe, where the
European Union synchronizes policies and resources to combat security
threats worldwide. The regional approach to transnational challenges is
also well developed in Latin America. The Organization of American
States is increasingly attempting to fight drug trafficking and small
arms proliferation by seeking to coordinate judicial and enforcement
systems across borders. Since the 1960s, the 10 countries in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations have engaged in regional
coordination to achieve their top priority: economic development. The
African continent works regionally through the African Union, deploying
troops, peacekeeping missions and conflict-resolution teams to war-torn
and unstable states such as Sudan and Somalia.
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