Conflict and violence in Africa in the 21st century: Where is the African Union? A case of Libya, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Central African Republic

• Author: Victor H. Mlambo,Mpume Dlamini
• Date: 01 November 2019
• Published date: 01 November 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1939

ACADEMIC PAPER

Conflict and violence in Africa in the 21st century: Where is the

African Union? A case of Libya, South Sudan, Democratic

Republic of the Congo, and Central African Republic

Victor H. Mlambo |Mpume Dlamini

Department of Public Administration,

University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, South

Africa

Correspondence

Victor H. Mlambo, Department of Public

Administration, University of Zululand, 1 Main

Road Vulindlela, KwaDlangezwa, ZA 3886,

South Africa.

Email: halavico@yahoo.com

The inability of the African Union (AU) to deal with increasing outbreaks of violence and

conflict has cast a lot of doubt regarding the organization's ability to lead Africa in a 21st

century characterized by massive geopolitical dynamics. To answer the critical question

of whether the AU is still relevant today, the study employed a strict textual analysis of

the relevant literature on the role of the AU in conflict prevention, eradication, and by

extension its contribution towards peacebuilding. The study found that the AU has

failed to eradicate conflicts in Africa single‐handedly; rather, the UN and together with

foreign states have intervened to help quell the violence in Libya, South Sudan, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic and beyond. The

failure of the AU has increased global and continental perceptions that the AU is useless

and cannot solve Africa's problems today. Therefore, this gives or permits an increase to

foreign intervention in the internal affairs of African states. The study concluded that

reforms and reaffirming commitment from member states are important elements

needed to ensure that the AU can become effective and contribute effectively towards

solving Africa's complex problems in a somewhat complex and unpredictable interna-

tional system.

1|INTRODUCTION

Ever since the 1980s right up until the 2000s, there have been growing

debates and discussions within Africa's political spectrum regarding the

effectiveness and relevance of the African Union (AU) in contributing

toward the eradication of conflicts and contributing towards solving

Africa's complex challenges through political methods or ways. Central

to these debates and discussions is the mere fact that many conflicts

in Africa have been solved from abroad, with the United Nations (UN)

being very much involved in African affairs, together with an array of

independent mostly Western states (Deng & Zartman, 2011). This has,

therefore, raised serious questions regarding the relevance of the AU

in solving Africa's problems in the 21st century, especially relating to

defending the sovereignty of member states together with their territo-

rial integrity, furthermore, to a great extent, to ensure the protectionon

African interests not only continentally but also in a global perspective

(Kane & Mbelle, 2007). To a great extent, increasing debates and

discussions around the relevance of the AU have cast a lot of doubt in

the ability of the union to lead Africa intoprosperity and protect the fun-

damental values of African states in the face of ever‐increasing conflicts

and a hostile political climate (Gegout, 2018). Using the case of South

Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Central Afri-

can Republic (CAR), we argue that the AU as a continental body

entrusted with African affairs has failed to decisively intervene in these

countries and eradicate the ever‐increasing rates of conflict, however,

we acknowledge that while AU has in many instances partnered with

the UN and other independent states from abroad in its quest to bring

about peace and stop the conflict; fundamentally, however, as a body

entrusted with Africa's affairs, individually, it has failed to provide direc-

tion and ensure political solutions are championed in order to solve the

ongoing conflicts in these countries, although there are a number of fac-

tors that are fueling these conflicts; nonetheless, it is worth nothing

that, in its quest to solve conflicts in Africa's, the AU has to a great

extent relied on international help and intervention, hence further

Received: 12 February 2019 Accepted: 23 February 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1939

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1939.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1939

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of10