Multilateral Intelligence Cooperation in Africa

In recent decades, organisations such as the African Union have developed significant intelligence capabilities. Yet, existing research on intelligence in the Global South remains limited, and African intelligence institutions are understudied, their innovations under-recognised, and their challenges under-theorised. Tunji Namaiko focuses on the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), whose operationalisation started in 2006, arguing that this system represents the most ambitious, integrated, and wide-ranging form of multilateral intelligence cooperation in the Global South. Namaiko demonstrates that despite sovereignty concerns, African states have institutionalised intelligence cooperation in a way that links intelligence directly to conflict prevention and peacebuilding, rather than merely to foreign policy or military objectives. This study connects theory, policy, and practice, offering new insights into how intelligence functions in regional integration processes. This is a Flip it Open title and may be available open access on Cambridge Core.