Security communities and the problem of domestic instability

The literature on security communities neglects the question of internal instability. Using examples drawn mainly from the Great Lakes region of Africa and the region covered by the Southern African Development Community, I argue that domestic stability, defined as the absence of large-scale violence within a country, is a necessary condition of a security community. I seek to demonstrate that large-scale domestic violence prevents the attainment of these communities by rendering people and states insecure, generating uncertainty, tension and mistrust among states, and creating the risk of cross-border violence. In contrast to other writers, I conclude that the benchmark of a security community – dependable expectations of peaceful change – should apply not only between states but also within them.