Description
Book SynopsisThe African Union (AU) is the leading international organization on the African continent. Established in 2001, it consists of fifty-four members, a ten-member Commission, political organs, such as the Assembly, Pan-African Parliament, and a body where civil society groups are represented. The AU seeks the political and socio-economic integration of the African continent and has emerged as a key player in international politics. Since its creation, the AU has tackled a wide range of issues, including health epidemics (Ebola), undemocratic change of governments, gender inequality, wars, poverty and climate change. It has also led military interventions in Burundi, Comoros, Sudan, and Somalia and adopted key legal instruments to prevent transnational terrorism, bad governance, human rights abuses, corruption and promoted economic development. Governing Africa shows how the AU has faced these challenges by providing a comprehensive and critical examination of AU's performance and role, explaining the innovative and homegrown solutions it has developed in the last decade. Going beyond the traditional security-centric discussion of AU, it analyzes other equally important issues that the AU has dealt with, such as human rights and democracy promotion. For those interested in global studies, the 3D model advanced in this book provides excellent theoretical model for studying IOs anywhere in the world. The first book to deal with the AU as a multi-dimensional, dynamic political organization, Governing Africa takes stock of AU’s successes and failures in its first decade.
Trade ReviewGoverning Africa is unquestionably the best book I have read on the African Union (AU). The footnotes indicate that the book is the culmination of more than a decade of desktop research and interviews by Thomas Tieku. The book’s contribution to scholarship is immense.... Governing Africa ’s strength lies in its rich empirical data, and the book is a must for the book order list of all departments of International Relations, Politics, History and African Studies. It is the essential read for all diplomats and other practitioners who might in future cross paths with the AU. * South African Journal of International Affairs *
Amidst a rapidly growing field of books on the African Union, Tieku’s 3D analysis opens a path-breaking perspective to the study of the International Organizations. It radically explores the African Union by challenging existing conceptual and analytical orthodoxies, and offers a three dimensional (3D) integrated framing: intergovernmental, supranational, and ‘outsiders,’ that hones the knowledge base for evaluating this dynamic Pan-African organization. Beyond its excellent conceptual innovativeness and the critical examination of three sets of actors, this book reflects original thinking in the field of theory building that, though rooted in an African organization, has much wider ramifications for the ways we understand International Organizations (IOs) in a changing world order. -- Cyril Obi, program director, African Peacebuilding Network of the Social Science Research Council, New York
Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Preface Chapter 1: Introduction: A 3D Guide To the Study of International Organizations Chapter 2: Theorizing African Union as a 3D International Organization Chapter 3: Interstate Cooperation in Africa in Historical Perspective Chapter 4: The Impact of Entrepreneurship, Institution and Social Norms in the Negotiation of the African Union Chapter 5: African Union Promotion of Good Political Governance Chapter 6: African Peace and Security Architecture Chapter 7: Human Rights Chapter 8: Conclusion References
