Dilemmas of East African Cooperation: Domestic Audience and Prisoner's Dilemma Approaches on Regional Integration

Abstract

Regional cooperation in East Africa before and after independence has been through various institutions. The first East African Community (EAC) existed from 1967 to 1977; it was revived in 1999. Since then, there has been a mixture of cooperation, and intransigence in reforming internal processes for full EAC treaty implementation. No member state has utilised referenda to validate their positions, despite stated actions in 'public interest'. This research uses theoretical assumptions of domestic audience and Prisoner's Dilemma approaches to evaluate two instances where Tanzania cooperated with partner states, and two non-cooperation instances. I hypothesise that domestic audience and Prisoner's Dilemma approaches provide insight into Tanzania's choices. This research applies paradigms of studying cooperation problems to regional institutions in Third World Countries (TWCs). I argue that just as in great powers, TWCs contend with problems of cooperation and sanctions from their...