The North African uprisings and their implications to AU's emerging peace and security regime

Abstract

The popular uprisings in North Africa will go down to history books as events of huge historical importance. To the surprise of the world, they brought down long-established authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and triggered an armed rebellion and a UN sanctioned military campaign against Libya. The speed with which the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt bowed down to people power was also historical. While some describe the popular uprisings as political Tsunami, some went as far as characterising the events as a 'Berlin Wall moment' for North Africa and the Middle East.