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The starting point for understanding norm creation within African regional institutions must be the norms created by the OAU in 1963. However, to analyze the decisions made by independence era leaders when choosing norms for the African regional organization, it is crucial to understand the impact of pan-Africanist ideas that developed throughout the twentieth century as well as the impact of key events that took place in the lead-up to independence. Pan-Africanism did not begin as an African-led movement. It began to emerge as a solidified concept in 1900, and
understanding of pan-Africanist ideas, and African regional values and interests. The process of construcing the OAU and choosing its defining norms demonstrates the importance of the idea of pan-Africanism as well as the interplay between ideas and other factors in norm creation and policy-making. While an ambiguous idea can pose challenges, it can also be beneficial for uniting disparate groups. 1 In the case of pan-Africanism, groups of leaders were able to hold different interpretations about some aspects of pan-Africanism and how they should be applied. However, they
cohesion. 6 Those leaders gathered in Sirte agreed that the continent needed to address the social, political, and economic realities in Africa and as such agreed to establish a new union that would align with the objectives of the OAU Charter and the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. The future continental organization would seek to speed up implementation of economic integration and establish other features of continental unity, including a central bank, monetary union, court of justice, and pan-African parliament. The leaders in Sirte also agreed to
and non-material interests. The idea of pan-Africanism and how it shaped regional interests along with the collective experience of the African region under colonialism and immediately after independence, in addition to advocacy by African leaders, played a major role in determining the norms chosen at the advent of the OAU. Likewise, the normative shifts within Africa cannot be seen as largely attributable to shifts in global politics or the influence of major states or international institutions. The transformation of the understanding of pan-Africanism, the
OAU was created in the immediate post-independence era. The events leading up to independence, advocacy by independence leaders, and regional interests and values all underpinned pan-Africanist ideas explaining why the OAU codified specific norms. Pan-Africanism helped to shape the parameters of the debate by providing points of common focus around the need to foster solidarity, ensure the final liberation of the continent, protect African statehood, and promote Africa’s place in the world. In the immediate independence era the regional interests included protecting
, https://au.int/en/treaties/constitutive-act-african-union (accessed 7 May 2020). 3 “Organization of African Unity Charter,” 4. 4 “Protocol of the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration,” International Legal Materials 3, no. 6 (1964): 1116–24. 5 C.O.C. Amate, Inside the OAU: Pan-Africanism in Practice (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986), 164. 6 “Amendments to the Charter and the Protocol of the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration,”CM/334 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Organization of African Unity, August 1970), 1. AU
land in the Horn – of which many Gulf states are short – provides a means of ensuring self-sufficiency in the production of food. Of course, these efforts butt up against a broader pan-African search for food security, albeit the continent faces myriad challenges, not least of which stem from infrastructural and political issues. Similar political, economic, and security challenges are found among the Gulf states, notably in the UAE and Iran, as broader regional activity has come at a price, prompting the Emirates to withdraw from military
-Arabisation occurred in Libya, where Gaddafi attracted an increasing number of sub-Saharan African immigrants into the country. From the early 1990s onwards, Gaddafi became less interested in Arab unity and, instead, sought to spearhead closer ties among African states under pan-Africanism. This included the signing of a 1990 integration charter with Sudan, a 1994 agreement with Chad, as well as the 1998 creation of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) which contained numerous objectives regarding the free movement of people. Gradually, Gaddafi employed Libya's position as
's work as the ambassador of the not yet independent Algeria to Ghana in the late 1950s. Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah had become an early hub for liberation movements across the continent, still gathering under umbrella ideas like Pan-Africanism. A longer line is to be seen in the reception of Fanon's ideas – and in the similar vein of Maoism – in political contexts and armed conflicts on all continents. Global historical timing is not just a question of armed actors; it is one of theories, too
President of the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration,” CM/172/Add. 2 (Organization of African Unity, September 1967), 2. AU Commission Archives. 11 C.O.C. Amate, Inside the OAU: Pan-Africanism in Practice (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986) 157–58. 12 Amate, Inside the OAU , 158. 13 Zdenek Cervenka, The Unfinished Quest for Unity: Africa and the OAU (London: Julian Friedmann Publishers Ltd, 1977), 65. 14 "Resolving Conflicts in Africa: Implementation Options," 1993, 8. AU Commission Archives. 15 "Report of the Administrative