What a Difference a Decade Makes: Understanding Security Policy Reversals Between the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union

John J. Hogan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

No other African Union (AU) institution represents as significant a departure from the past as the African Peace and Security Architecture, a framework for anticipating and responding to crises, and conflicts on the continent. The Architecture lays the foundations for African peacekeeping missions, the promotion of human security, and provides the Union with a legal right of intervention. A decade prior to the AU’s establishment, African governments had resolutely rejected a more modest expansion in the security competencies of its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity. This chapter investigates what prompted this volte-face from African governments, highlighting the significance of democratisation in pivotal states in the 1990s, the influence of African humanitarian tragedies during the same period and the nature of decision-making at the AU.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAfrican Histories and Modernities
PublisherPalgrave / MacMillan
Pages289-316
Number of pages28
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameAfrican Histories and Modernities
ISSN (Print)2634-5773
ISSN (Electronic)2634-5781

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • African Peace and Security Architecture
  • African Standby Force
  • OAU Liberation Committee
  • Peace and Security Council
  • Peacekeeping

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