Africa establishes its own Security Council

The African Union is reported to have established it’s own Peace and Security Council to deal with issues related to African conflict.

The African Union is reported to have established it’s own Peace and Security Council to deal with issues related to African conflict.

This is excellent news. It challenges the hegemony of the totally undemocratic U.N security council, which is anachronistically drawn from victors of WWII and cold war combatants. In effect, the UNSC was a European Security Council that meddled and obstructed affairs in the rest of the world, condescending to allow some seats to others (and then intimidating and bugging them).

The establishment of regional security councils, drawn from principles ratified by the U.N General Assembly (representing all nations, big and small), and therefore bound to and enforcing international conventions and treaties could be the solution to the problems the UNSC has created. The UNSC as a single entity has managed to be indifferent when it should have been proactive (Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Kosovo) and meddlesome and obstructive when it should have been inactive (Israel/Palestine, Iraq sanctions).

In effect, we have already seen the rise of such regional security councils in the various regional treaties (i.e ANZUS between Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand, ASEAN between Australia, the U.S, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia etc, the G8, the Arab League and so forth). That African nations have been able to arrive at their own council to address their own regional security issues is a welcome outcome.

Of course, there is no guarantee that such a council will not become dominated by military powers as the U.S. does to the UNSC, however the regional nature of the organisation will act against that. Such councils will further cast into sharp relief the illegitimacy of U.S. interference in such regional issues.