Overview

African regional organizations have played leading roles in constructing collective conflict management rules for the continent. Currently, the African Union (AU) authorizes peace support operations and actively engages to resolve internal conflicts. 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? The book examines why the OAU chose norms that prioritized state security in 1963 leading to a policy of non-interference even in the face of destabilizing violence and why the AU chose very different norms leading to a disparate conflict management policy of non-indifference in the early 2000s. It argues that new peace and security norms emerged largely from within the African region and international influence was not a determinant factor. -- .

Full Product Details

9781526195593

Table of Contents

Reviews

'By and large, the book adds to a growing literature on African agency in global affairs, with a special interest in peace and security norms. Given its methodological approach of combining research at the AU Commission archives with interviews of AU officials, the narrative is extremely detailed. The author also reminds her readers that institutional design is constantly in the making, which also extends to the underlying norms that govern contemporary African peace and security efforts. Finally, the book is well researched and is a pleasant read. Therefore, it is highly recommended not only to scholars of (African) regional organisations and norm diffusion and African agency but also to those interested in the history of the OAU.' Enrico Behne, Yearbook on the African Union, Volume 2 (2021) -- .

Author Information

Kathryn Nash is a Senior Lecturer and Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh Law School

Tab Content 6

Countries Available