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.