Review: The questions of peace and security are of utmost importance for the government of each African state. In Africa, the conflicts flare up much easily that in majority of countries in the world. After the end of cold war, over a third of peacemaking operations of the United Nations worldwide took place in Africa. As the regional and subregional organizations adopt the path of helping to maintain peace and security in Africa, the role of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the sphere violence control in the West African subregion is being doubted by a the strategic mechanism for peace and security of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). This article examines the peacemaking capabilities of ECOWAS as a regional authority tasked with maintaining peace in the subregion; as well as discusses the structure of its establishment, application of its mandate in conflict resolutions, organization’s tasks in fulfilling its obligations, and the success it was able to achieve. The article traces the connection between France, as former colonial power in Africa and WAEMU, implies a program that duplicates ECOWAS’s role in maintaining security, peace and order in the West African subregion. This author underlines that WAEMU can manifests as a geopolitical mechanism of France for regaining its dominance over the West African states and Africa as a whole.

Keywords: geopolitical mechanism, deploy, brigade, modernization of armies, community levy, West Africa, ECOWAS, WAEMU, Standby Forces, peacebuilding

Review: This article analyzes the phenomenon of the low level of institutionalization of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the factors that led to its under-institutionalization and its importance for the organization and its functioning. The author traces the format of work of the Community, its structure, level of correspondence to the initially claimed tasks, key moments of the history of its operation, and the results. At the macrolevel, the article examines the circumstance of establishment of the Community, purpose of its creation and questions of its activity. The author also covers the problem of the clash of interests of the Latin American countries and the United States, functioning of the Organization of American States, as well as misbalances in relationship between the two Americas. The question of the fundamental idea of CELAC and factors of its preservation in the condition of under-institutionalization is examined. A conclusion is made about the place and role of CELAC within the structure of regional configuration of Latin American subsystem; about the indicated system as such; and principles of creation and operation of the Community.

Keywords: Organization of American States, USA, macrolevel, The Caribbean, institutionalization, integration, regionalism, Latin America, CELAC, region