Are Regional Organizations Best Suited to Manage Security Threats in Their Own Geographical Area?

Are Regional Organisations best suited to manage security threats in their own geographical area?
Introduction:
Since the end of the Second World War there has been a constant growth of regional organisations military, political and economic. The process of decolonization at the end of the 2nd World War has accelerated this growth. Today there are more then 50 regional organizations with various aims and objectives from NATO to ASEAN, Arab League to SAARC, ECOWAS, AU, OAS are just to name a few. If we look from an idealist perspective the world is much better place then the last century as there is no competing superpower for rivalry. Regional Organisations certainly could have positive impact on managing security threats in their own geographical area. NATO is an excellent example while other organizations may have different outcome according to their capabilities and expectations.

Samuel Huntington characterized the current global power structure as ‘’uni-multipolar’’ which means one superpower and several major powers. (Foreign Affairs, Mar/Apr 99 p37) This is a very important fact for consideration in security studies. With the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union the strategic landscape of the world has dramatically changed. Ethnic conflicts, civil wars, territorial wars, failed states, challenges to dictatorship, political fragmentation has all altered the security landscape.

Not all states are heard at International Forums such as the UN, nor can they seek justice or rely on alliance system any longer, therefore regional organisations provide an opportunity to debate issues concerned, building confidence and certainly reduce and defuse tensions.

In order to answer this questions effectively I shall be looking at the (1) evolution of regional organizations since 1945 and their motivations for creation, (2) what are the security threats faced by different regions, (3) brief history and the roles played by different organisations...