The OAU and conflict management in Africa : The post-cold war era

Abstract

This thesis examines the conduct of the OAU in conflict management in the post-Cold War era. It begins by looking at the historical development of the OAU and its impact on African interstate relations. The impact of the Pan-African ideology in African international relations is significant in that it not only contributed to the creation of the OAU, but also acted as its driving force. The end of the Cold War has witnessed the growing responsibilities of the OAU in African diplomacy and conflict management. The creation of a new conflict management mechanism by the OAU took place in response to the post-Cold War protracted conflicts in Africa. By creating a new conflict management division within the OAU, African leaders raised the profile of the continental organisation and enhanced its capacity to handle conflicts in Africa. Indeed it has been striking just how much controversy has revolved around competing claims of the OAU as the competent provider of conflict prevention and management roles. It is therefore an opportune time to assess this assertion as well as the new challenges the OAU faces in managing Africa's endemic and protracted conflicts.

The OAU has taken an active part and played a positive role in some of these conflicts since the end of the Cold War. The study therefore examines the OAU's role in some of these conflicts through case studies and concludes that the relative success of the continental organisations lies not with 'mechanisms' as such but the extent to which it shifts focus from the normative state system to 'people' as a way of conflict management. At the same time, the OAU must 'domesticate' Pan-Africanism as the defining ideology in African inter-state relations. An important factor distinguishing success from failure in managing Africa's conflicts has usually been not so much with the OAU per se but rather the policies both domestic and foreign of its members.

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