Full course description
The African Union (AU) is a continental body of 55 member states, which has a history of engagement in mediation and peacekeeping efforts between African states but is rarely credited with success. The AU, for example, led international political efforts to deal with the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan in 2003, long before the UN. But when AU leaders cautioned against a military intervention in Libya, their views were ignored in favor of the more interventionist approach pushed by powerful Western States and the Arab League. She will discuss some of the challenges faced by the African Union in its peace endeavors and whether the UN Security Council-authorized NATO intervention in Libya -- against the wishes of the AU -- helped lead to an ongoing disaster in Libya and to the present stalemate at the UN Security Council.
Ambassador Susan D. Page is a professor of practice in international diplomacy at the Ford School of Public Policy’s Weiser Diplomacy Center and a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School. She has deep expertise in international relations, particularly in Africa. Her senior level roles have included being the first U.S. ambassador to South Sudan, U.S. Charge d’Affaires to the African Union, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and a UN representative to Haiti. She received a JD from Harvard Law School and an AB in English with high distinction from the University of Michigan