The contemporary West Africa security landscape is rapidly transforming. Over the past decade, chronic political instability, persistent societal volatility and continuous armed conflict have dominated the regional scene. These developments raise important questions for the nature and practice of peacebuilding in the coming phase. The trajectory of the West African state stands squarely at the heart of this recurring course of insecurity. The current context is one of deterioration (of conditions), density (of actors) and complexity (of vectors). A crowded, increasingly interwoven – and at times almost unreadable – space of violence-filled competition around the feeble and enfeebled West African state is the primary challenge of peacebuilding in the region.