North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationJackson Gillard

Intermediate/ Advance

Topic A: Intervention and Cooperation with the African Union

Introduction

NATO and the United Nations:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its 28 member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. All member states are responsible with the aid of other NATO nations.

The African Union:

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. This includes all countries in the continent of Africa except for Morocco. The AU was established on 26 May 2001 and launched on July 9, 2002 in South Africa. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.

Core Duties of NATO:

NATO provides a unique opportunity for member countries to consult and take decisions on security issues at all levels and in a variety of fields. In accordance with the Treaty, the fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO is playing an increasingly important role in crisis management and peacekeeping. All member states are responsible with the aid of other NATO nations and operations through financial or military aid.

Background

Defining Terms:

Intervention: the action or process of intervening

Intervene: come between so as to prevent or alter a result or course of events. (NATO intervening with problems of organizations not affiliated with NATO)

Cooperation: the process of working together to the same end. (NATO is in cooperation with the AU to solve problems plaguing the continent of Africa).

Main Issues

  1. NATO assistance to the African Union:

Since 2005, at the request of the African Union NATO has been providing different forms of support to the AU. The African Union has requested support from NATO as early as 2005 for the missions in Sudan (AMIS) in the province of Darfur, only 3 years after the AU was formed. This was the Alliance’s first mission on the African continent and was terminated on 31st of December 2007 when AMIS was successfully completed. NATO has since been assisting the AU with other missions and objectives including the larger missions in Somalia. The Head of the Peace Support Operations Division of the AU stated “We see this (cooperation) more long term”. This has been confirmed by the repeated AU requests for NATO assistance, which has resulted in an expanded AU-NATO collaboration.

  1. Important Points to Consider:

The African Union could become dependent on NATO support when it comes to solving conflicts.

The African Union has demanded that NATO intervene in conflicts that do not relate to the concerns of NATO members.

If NATO stops its support in Africa there is the risk that conflicts might start to arise across the continent more often.

The African Unions ability to solve conflicts without help is questionable.

NATO resources are being sent to non-NATO nations.

Past UN Actions

NATO has been providing training support to the African Standby Force (ASF) at the AU’s request. The ASF is intended to be deployed in Africa in times of crisis. It is part of the AU’s efforts to develop long-term peacekeeping capabilities. ASF represents AU’s vision for a continental, on-call security apparatus with some similarities to the NATO Response Force. NATO’s key goal is to create an organization similar to NATO within Africa so that the AU will not have to depend on external organizations in times of need. This may sound like a good idea in theory but it is still in construction and to this day NATO still intervenes in conflicts at the request of the AU.

Keys of the Resolution

  1. How should NATO deal with the growing dependency of the African Union?
  2. What are some past events and conflicts in Africa and how has NATO affected them?
  3. What are some complications with a withdrawal of NATO forces in Africa?
  4. What are some problems with NATO continuing to support the AU?
  5. Look at past alliances between organizations and how they have benefited (or not) each other.
  6. Understand where your country stands and what alliances they have made in the past.

I hope you found this guide helpful and a good base to start studying for your specific country.

Good Luck

-Jackson Gillard