An Assessment of African Union Security Architecture in the Management of Conflicts in Africa: Case Study of Somalia

Abstract

Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents in the world due to social dislocation, international politics and compelling internal contradictions. Research shows that towards the close of 1966, almost half of the war-related deaths in the world were located in Africa accounting for over 8 million of the 22 million refugees across the globe. The Rwanda genocide claim over 800,000 deaths in 1994, over 4.5million death occurred in the last decade of the 20th century in other conflict zone in Africa such as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique, Uganda etc. this work interrogate the AU security architecture APSA in the management of Africa conflicts. APSA is the collective term for a number of specific capability areas intended to strengthen Africa’s ability to respond to the peace and security challenges facing the continent. The work uses the Somalia conflict as a case in study. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of APSA however, it concludes that APSA perfumed creditably well in Somalia but call for deeper commitment by member states to the cause of Africa development and integration.

Keywords: APSA. Conflict, peace keeping, peace enforcement, Protocol, AMISOM