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The SADC Standby Force and Its Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre: Uncertain Operational Readiness and Future of an Externally Fuelled Brigade

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The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU)

Abstract

This chapter offers a comprehensive explanation of why and how SADC countries engaged in military integration and put efforts in establishing a regional standby brigade with an associated peacekeeping training centre. This chapter pays special attention to the impact of extra-regional actors and donors’ funding in this regard since the development of the SADC Standby Force occurs at a time when the region lacks an actual external threat. Instead, the African Union, together with the EU, provides financial incentives and thus promotes the build-up of a SADC brigade. The EU’s external influence, however, has been ambivalent insofar as a freezing of donations paralysed the operational capacity of the troops’ training centre. Today, the Standby Force is officially ready for deployment with South Africa as lead nation.

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  1. Department of Political Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Johannes Muntschick

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Muntschick, J. (2018). The SADC Standby Force and Its Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre: Uncertain Operational Readiness and Future of an Externally Fuelled Brigade. In: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45330-9_7

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