Embracing State Security: The Peace and Security Norms and Structures of the Organisation of African Unity, 1963–1993

2020 ◽  
pp. 263-287
Author(s):  
Kathryn Nash
Keyword(s):  
African Unity ◽  
State Security ◽  
Peace And Security

The Organization of African Unity and the United Nations: A Study of the Problems of Universal-Regional Relationship in the Organization and Maintenance of International Peace and Security

1971 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 30-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Akindele
Keyword(s):  
International System ◽  
Political Order ◽  
World Peace ◽  
African Unity ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Formal Organization ◽  
Global System ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Organization Of African Unity ◽  
Power Configuration

World peace, like war, has tended to become indivisible. Nonetheless, the formal organization of international peace and security continues to be anchored to the principle of division and imperfect co-ordination of responsibility between universal and regional instrumentalities. The problem of maintaining world peace would probably have been much less troublesome than it is now if the international system had either been hierarchically organized, or based upon a strictly federal foundation. Needless to say, the global system remains largely a semi-primitive political order characterized, as it is, by a decentralized structure of power configuration.

(Re-)Building the World: Local Agency and Human Security in the New Millennium

2017 ◽  
pp. 247-266
Author(s):  
Trudy Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Nation Building ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Local Models ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
State Security ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Local Actors

The ‘rebuilding’ of a society in the aftermath of conflict or mass violence often subsumes the dynamic requirements of human security into a technical task that belies or fails to fully comprehend the needs of the community being ‘built’. Indeed, as Trudy Fraser in Chapter Ten explains, critics have suggested that ‘building’ in the aftermath of conflict merely serves to impose externally configured normative benchmarks as a panacea for peace, privileging the goals of international actors at the expense of local actors. One of the main problems is that externally configured normative benchmarks do not necessarily conform to local models of peace and security. In order for the ‘building’ to be reflective of the dynamic requirements of human security, this chapter asserts that it must be responsive to the following questions: (1) who is doing the building?; (2) what is being built?; and (3) for whom is it being built? These three questions speak to separate but interrelated issues in the context of modern state-, peace- and nation-building, and highlights the ambiguity that currently exists between the initial (state-security-centric) and subsequent (human-security-centric) phases of intervention and ‘(re-)building’.

Special Conferences

1962 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 444-446
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
African Unity ◽  
International Peace ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Economic Council ◽  
Set Up

Meeting in July 1959 at Sanniquellie, Liberia, President Tubman of Liberia, President Touré of Ginea, and Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana pledged themselves to work together for the formation of a “Community of Independent African States.” To this end, they decided that a special conference should be held in 1960 after Nigeria, Togoland, and the Cameroons had attained independence. They agreed on the following principles to be presented to the projected conference as the basis for discussion: 1) Africans, like all other peoples, had an inherent right to independence and self-determination; 2) the name of the proposed organization should be the “Community of Independent African States;” 3) each state or federation which became a member of the Community should maintain its own national identity and constitutional structure; 4) each member should accept the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of any other-member; 5) the acts of states or federations members of the Community should be determined in relation to the essential objectives of freedom, independence, and unity of the African personality; 6) the policy of the Community should be to build up a prosperous African unity for the benefit of the peoples of Africa and of the world, and in the interests of international peace and security; 7) a main objective should be to help accelerate the independence of African territories subjected to domination; 8) the Community should set up an economic council, a cultural council, and a scientific and research council; 9) membership should be open to all independent African states and federations and to nonindependent countries upon their attainment of independence; 10) the Community should have a flag and an anthem, to be decided upon at a later date; and 11) the motto of the Community should be “Independence and Unity.”

The AU’s Progress and Achievements in the Realm of Peace and Security

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segun Joshua ◽  
Faith Olanrewaju
Keyword(s):  
Data Gathering ◽  
Institutional Capacity ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Unity ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Domestic Affairs

When Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed, the problem confronting Africa continent then was colonialism. It is therefore not a surprise that its major preoccupation was how to liberate countries within the continent that were still under the grip of colonialism. However, the surge of conflicts in various African countries shortly after independence, manifesting in form of ethnicity, religious, struggle for political power among others, coupled with OAU policy of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of member states, combined to turn African continent to the bedlam of the world. The failure of OAU led to the formation of the African Unity (AU) to correct some of these ills. This article examines AU’s achievements in the realm of peace and security using secondary sources of data gathering. Since AU came on board, how far has it fared in promoting peace and security in the continent? Findings reveal that although AU has achieved much in the realm of peace and security in Africa, yet it lacks the needed human resources and institutional capacity to conduct effective peace operations and peace-making initiatives. The study therefore suggested among others the need to strengthen AU’s institutional capacity and more personnel should be donated by members countries

scholarly journals RECONCILIATION IN ZIMBABWE: THE CONFLICT BETWEEN A STATE-CENTRED AND PEOPLECENTRED APPROACH

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Murambadoro ◽  
Cori Wielenga
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Community Members ◽  
State Security ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
High Level ◽  
National Reconciliation

Reconciliation has become an integral part of the post-conflict peacebuilding process, and has come to be seen as an integral part of sustaining peace and security, particularly at the local level. The tension between a state security and human security approach to peacebuilding is particularly evident in national reconciliation and transitional justice processes. There is a continued emphasis on high-level reconciliation processes and the reconciliation of elite actors over processes that facilitate reconciliation at the  community level. This article explores this in the case of Zimbabwe, where the emphasis is on a state-based approach to resolving conflict, which fails to take into account or address the needs and issues that affect local communities. Drawing from fieldwork undertaken in Matabeleland in April, 2014, this article describes what community members identify as their central needs when it comes to reconciliation, within the context of the state-driven processes that have been implemented to date.

Part I International Law and Global Security, Ch.1 The Concept of Security in International Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
White Nigel D ◽  
Davies-Bright Auden
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
International Law ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Political Literature ◽  
State Security ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Function

This chapter traces the development of ‘security’ in international legal discourse from State security, to collective security, to human security, in order to understand whether there has been a change of emphasis or, in fact, a deepening of security. National security focuses on the safety of the nation-State, which necessitates placing national interests over collective interests. Collective security marks a transition in that the more national interests become diluted, the more centralized a response becomes, and the concept of threats to peace and security is broadened to include events within States that have international repercussions. The chapter considers the debates about ‘security’ at a conceptual level, drawing on legal and political literature, and then sets them against developments in practice to see if a conclusion can be drawn on the precise nature and function of ‘security’ in international law. It addresses the question of whether ‘peace’ and ‘security’ are, or should be seen as, norms of international law. The lack of formal legal definition of security signifies that subjective views, particularly intersubjective understandings of security, have facilitated the breakdown of the State–human security divide. The chapter looks at the implications for this as security moves from being the primary purpose of international law and institutions to becoming a primary norm.

Three Schools of Thought on “African Solutions to African Problems”

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndubuisi Christian Ani
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
African Union ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Global Challenges ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Policy Discourses

The idea of “African solutions to African problems” has enthralled policy makers in Africa and across the globe since the establishment of the African Union (AU) in 2001. The AU was equipped with robust mandates for coordinated solutions to the challenges in the continent unlike its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). While the maxim is employed in various policy discourses, there is limited consensus on what African solutions entail, especially in peace and security where the discourse dominates. Using the theoretical framework of constructivism, this article advances the debate by delineating three schools of thought—agency, indigenous, and innovative perspectives—on what constitute “African solutions.” The variances in these outlooks highlight the extensive view of “African solutions” and the multipronged ideas about Africa’s mechanisms and substantive values that could solve regional issues, and by extension, global challenges.

scholarly journals Regional Mechanisms and Intra-State Conflicts: Implementing the African Union’s Principle of Non-Indifference?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-153
Author(s):  
Migai Akech
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
African Union ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Member States ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Parallel Frameworks ◽  
Peace And Security

The member states of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) established the African Union (AU) in 2001, following recognition that Africa needed a more effective institution that could maintain peace and security. In particular,the 1994 genocide in Rwanda demonstrated to the continent that it needed to enhance its ability to act before conflicts became unmanageable and destructive.The AU consequently established an institutional framework for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts. This institutional framework consistsof two parallel frameworks, namely the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).

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