The effectiveness of the African Union in addressing regional security

Running head: AFRICAN UNION
International relation
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AFRICAN UNION 2
The effectiveness of the African Union in addressing regional security.
The African Union is formed by fifty-five nations which have come together with the
objective of addressing challenges they faced during the colonial error. One of the problems that
the union face is the insecurity in the African region according to Adebajo (2015). However,
there are strategies that the Union has put in place to enable it fights the challenges. The
approach defines its effectiveness in addressing security. The first thing that proves its efficacy is
that African Union has outlined the failures of the first union, that is OAU and established a
framework to curb the loopholes according to Varin, (2016). For instance, what was causing
challenges of security is lack of a joint army. The African Union have come up with a directive
where every member contributes some armed forces to address insecurity in different areas.
Apart from that, the union has a framework called African Peace and Security Architecture
which provide ways of dealing with danger. For example, in the architecture, there is peace and
security council which is constituted by fifteen members. The commission is in charge of
intervening the cases of insecurity and initiate vibrant ways of addressing the issues.
Consequently, AU has established strong coordination with the United Nations in matters
of security. In cases where there is insecurity, the union develops a joint task force between UN
armies and its army to fulfill the mandate of restoring peace in the region in reference to
Dembinski, Matthias, and Berenike Schott, (2014). Besides that, the African Union has gone
ahead to partner with other international bodies. For example, it coordinates with European
Union achieve peace operation mission that aims at maintaining security in the African region.
What makes cooperation more or less likely in Africa?