The African Union (AU), the Libya Crisis and the notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’

Abstract

When the crisis in Libya began, it was hoped that the AU would be the one to deal with it under its cherished notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’. However, from the very beginning, the organisation took half-hearted measures in its reaction; its members did not speak with one voice on how to resolve the crisis; and Qaddafi ignored the organisation's call to end the crisis peacefully, eventually resulting in the organisation being over-ridden by the western powers through means of the UN Security Council (UN SC). The Libya crisis demonstrated that beyond rhetoric, the AU does not have the capacity to respond effectively to the crises facing Africa. The crisis rendered the notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’ moot and demonstrated that at the moment the AU lacks the requisite functional tools to actually operationalise the notion.