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Abstract
Economic
development, power distribution, and security
consolidation can be promoted collectively by
states. Collective actions are predicated on
acquiring strength through unity. A number of
formal and informal institutional arrangements
exist to advance broad and narrow goals. One of
these is concert. The classical notion of concert
is related to the balance of power that existed in
Europe from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815
to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. A
more contemporary notion of concert goes beyond
power balancing, as it seeks to address economic,
environmental, legal, military, political, trade,
and socio-cultural issues. The African continent
is not seeking an ideal form of multi-polar
balance of power but rather is aiming to join
forces to tackle the most pressing concerns of its
societies: conflict, dictatorship, hunger,
illiteracy, integration, poverty, public health,
resource extraction, and water scarcity. The
heterogeneous landscape of influence and power
within the African Union creates two sets of
states: core and peripheral. The most dominant
states in the core advance progressive policy
initiatives that uphold their national interests,
while the remaining periphery follows as they
stand to benefit from the spillover effects
generated. Concert provides an effective platform
for African states to assess, agree, and adopt
coordinated positions on matters of common
interests that can have national, regional, and
international impacts. This essay argues that
cohesive agreements on adjustments, designs, and
implementations of tactics, plans, and strategies
are strengthened by multilateral communication of
opinions, proposals, and views under concert.
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