Obstacles to the African Solutions Approach: Can the African Union Realize a Peaceful and Secure Africa?

Abstract

This study explores the major constraints the African Union faces in its peace support operations in Sudan (Darfur) and Somalia. Identifying and understanding these hindrances provide lessons for the regional and international stakeholders that are planning to undertake future peace operations on the continent. The study closely examines why the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) were constrained in their attempts to find durable peace in Darfur and Somalia, respectively. The selection of these cases was motivated by different factors. In the first place, both countries have had to deal with protracted internal conflict. In addition, both countries are glaring examples of AU's comprehensive peace support operations. The data that inform the study were collected from a synthesis of the rich body of literature and personal interviews with purposively selected officials and experts on the issue under investigation. The study contends that given the limited financing from AU member states, weak military capacity, and division among member states over intervention, achieving the ambitious objective of African solutions to African problems will remains impossible for the foreseeable future.