After nearly four decades, the Organization of African Unity is no more. The OAU, founded in 1963, was dissolved this week. It was reborn as the African Union with the same membership and the same ambitions. Fortunately, there is one big difference between the new organization and the old one: The AU has the right to intervene in member states in cases of war crimes. If Africa's leaders can muster the will to act on that right — some would say international obligation — then there is hope for the AU. Unfortunately, there are few grounds for optimism.
The OAU was established in May 1963 as a platform for African nations to fight colonialism, promote independence and build continent-wide solidarity. The organization's membership reached 53 states, and the rhetorical support given to African identity triggered hopes that it could provide a vehicle for the assertion of Africa's interests on the international stage. That was not to be. Those hopes were strangled by the grim postindependence experience. African nations, among the most resource-rich countries in the world, were looted by corrupt leaders who were more interested in personal enrichment than helping their own people. At the time the OAU was formed, African nations were on the same level as many Asian nations. Today, Africa is home to many of the world's poorest states while Asia is considered the most vibrant region of the world.
While many Africans blame the colonial experience for this history, many others say the blame lies closer to home. The OAU's emphasis on national sovereignty gave heads of state the freedom to steal, insulated them from scrutiny and led to criticism that the organization was a "trade union of dictators." The OAU's slide into irrelevance was clear in the aftermath of the Cold War, when tribal tensions exploded, conflict broke out across the continent, and African leaders either turned a blind eye to or tried to profit from the violence.