Abstract

This article unravels the role of non-state actors in regional security in the great lakes region of Africa The analysis identifies what motivates non-state actors into action particularly the desire to access scarce resources the geopolitical environment and their legitimate right to participate in governance to transform society Using case studies the paper cites concrete examples from political movements militias and civil society to understand why non-state actors can shape regional security positively or negatively The paper concludes that what is important is to identify those non-state actors that have interest in peace and stability for networking and collaboration while at the same time engage positively or respond appropriately to those non-state actors that have negative attitude towards peace and security This is possible through practising democratic governance and developing military and other security capabilities to deal with negative actors