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power in the States of Southern Africa, we have no choice but to give to the peoples of those territories all the support of which we are capable in their struggle against their oppressors. This is why the signatory states participate in the movement for the liberation of Africa under the aegis of the Organization of African Unity. 39 The Union of South Africa is itself an independent sovereign State and a Member of the United Nations. It is more highly developed and richer than any other nation in Africa. On every legal basis its internal affairs are a matter
Gordon, African Leadership in the Twentieth Century , 143. 6 Etane Ebokely Benjamin Sakwe, “African States: Settlement of Political Disputes: The Role of the Organization of African Unity, 1963–1979, a Historical Review and Speculative Analysis” (1980). ETD Collection for AUC Robert W. Woodru Library. Paper 2187, 31-33. 7 Sakwe, “African States,” 33. 8 Thomas Akhigbe Imobighe, The OAU (AU) and OAS in Regional Conflict Management: A Comparative Assessment (Spectrum Books Limited, 2003), 60–61. 9 “Resolving Conflicts in Africa: Implementation Options
Prevention, Resolution, and Management,” CM/1767 (LVIII) (Organization of African Unity, 21-26 June 1993), 3. AU Commission Archives. 2 “Introduction to the Report of the Secretary General to the 28th Ordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government,” ," CM/1706 (LVI) Part 1 (Organization of African Unity, 22 June-1 July 1992), 6–19. AU Commission Archives. 3 “Report of the Secretary-General on the Establishment of a Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Resolution, and Management,” 6. 4 “Report of the Secretary-General on the Establishment
the Third World,” International Studies Quarterly 55, no. 1 (2022): 115. 10 Charles-Robert Ageron, Modern Algeria: A History from 1830 to the Present (London: C. Hurst & Co. Ltd, 1991), 108. 11 Ageron, Modern Algeria , 115. 12 Ageron, Modern Algeria , 119. 13 Ageron, Modern Algeria , 121–22. 14 Klaas Van Walraven, Dreams of Power: The Role of the Organization of African Unity in the Politics of Africa 1963–1993 (Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1999), 102–3. 15 Catherine Hoskyns, “The Part Played by the Independent African States
propose a theory of how African regional organizations developed norms to illuminate their regional governance role. This theory more broadly illuminates the importance of regional organizations in shaping their own spheres and their influence in global governance. Figure 2 Comparing the Organization of African Unity and the African Union Notes 1 “Organization of African Unity Charter,” 25 May 1963, https://au.int/en/treaties/oau-charter-addis-ababa-25-may-1963 (accessed 7 May 2020). 2 “Constitutive Act of the African Union,” 26 May 2001
African regional organizations have played leading roles in constructing collective conflict management rules for the continent, but these rules or norms have not been static. Currently, the African Union (AU) deploys monitors, authorizes peace support operations, and actively engages in internal conflicts in member states. Just a few decades ago these actions would have been deeply controversial under the Organization of African Unity (OAU). What changed to allow for this transformation in the way the African regional organization approaches peace and security? Drawing extensively on primary source documents from the AU Commission archives, this book examines why the OAU chose norms that prioritized state security in 1963 leading to a policy of strict non-interference and why the AU chose very different norms leading to a disparate conflict management policy of non-indifference in the early 2000s. Even if the AU’s capacity to respond to conflict is still developing, this new policy has made the region more willing and capable of responding to violent conflict. The author argues that norm creation largely happened within the African context, and international pressure was not a determinant factor. The role of regional organizations in the international order, particularly those in the African region, has been under-theorized and under-acknowledged, and this book adds to an emerging literature that explores the role of regional organizations in the Global South in creating and promoting norms based on their own experiences and for their own purposes.
influence of critical events, and advocacy by key leaders. Notes 1 “Sirte Declaration” (African Union, 8–9 September 1999), para. 6, https://archives.au.int/handle/123456789/2475 (accessed 7 May 2020). 2 Tiyanjana Maluwa, “The Transition from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union,” in The African Union: Legal and Institutional Framework , ed. Abdulqawi A. Yusef and Fatsah Ouguergouz (Leiden: Martinus Njihoff, 2012), 31–32. 3 “AU in a Nutshell,” African Union, https://au.int/en/au-nutshell (accessed 7 May 2020). 4 “Relaunching
Establishment of a Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Resolution, and Management,” CM/1767 (LVIII) (Organization of African Unity, 21-26 June 1993), 26. AU Commission Archives. 34 “Draft Agenda for the Thirty-Fifth Ordinary Sessions of the Council of Ministers,” CM/1039 (XXXV) Rev. 1 (Organization of African Unity, 18–28 June 1980). AU Commission Archives. 35 “Resolution on Adopted by the Assembly of Heads of States and Government of the Organization of African Unity, Meeting in Its Seventeenth Ordinary Session in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 1–4 July 1980,” AHG/ Res
contributions of regional institutions as norm creators and promoters, particularly in marginalized regions, is under-examined. This book analyzes how African regional organizations created peace and security norms in order to better understand the role regional organizations play in shaping international society. It argues that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and then the African Union (AU) uniquely adapted existing international norms as well as created new peace and security norms within their regional sphere and largely independent of international pressure
felt, should be extrapolated at the continental level.” 52 Furthermore, Nigeria was heavily involved in supporting the concept of ECOMOG and then providing financial backing and troops. As will be described in Chapter 11 , both Nigerian and South African leaders were pivotal voices in negotiations around the construction of the AU Constitutive Act. Notes 1 “Introduction to the Report of the Secretary General to the 28th Ordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government,” CM/1706 (LVI) Part 1 (Organization of African Unity, 22 June-1 July