Book contents
- Contesting Sovereignty
- Contesting Sovereignty
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I Normative Contestation in Regional Organisations
- Part II The African Union
- 3 The ‘United States of Africa’ Proposal
- 4 The Conference on Security, Stability, Development, and Cooperation in Africa
- 5 The Pan-African Parliament
- Part III The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
- Part IV Comparative Findings
- Appendix List of Officials Interviewed
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - The ‘United States of Africa’ Proposal
from Part II - The African Union
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2021
- Contesting Sovereignty
- Contesting Sovereignty
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I Normative Contestation in Regional Organisations
- Part II The African Union
- 3 The ‘United States of Africa’ Proposal
- 4 The Conference on Security, Stability, Development, and Cooperation in Africa
- 5 The Pan-African Parliament
- Part III The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
- Part IV Comparative Findings
- Appendix List of Officials Interviewed
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The genesis of the AU derives from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s proposal to reform the OAU as the ‘United States of Africa’. While he was rhetorically credited with the creation of the AU, the new AU looked nothing like what he had proposed and he was continually frustrated in attempts to move it to the federal structure he desired. This chapter examines the critical period of debate during the formation of the AU and how the ‘US of Africa’ was sidelined or rebuffed as both norm circles wrested with each other for control of the initiative, appeals to shared norms, and other opportunities to influence each other.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Contesting SovereigntyPower and Practice in Africa and Southeast Asia, pp. 79 - 102Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021