FORMER president Thabo Mbeki makes a valid point that the West's ignorance of the African voice is more a reflection of the "the wrong attitude" in the world rather than the African Union being weak.
But that is arguably partial representation of the true picture if the developments in Ivory Coast and Libya earlier this year are anything to go by.
Mbeki said on Monday there was an attempt to ignore the African voice - specifically the AU proposals on Africa. A closer look at the Ivory Coast scenario, though, tended to portray an AU that failed to assert itself at a critical moment and therefore was out-manoeuvred by the French in chiselling an inclusive peace arrangement.
If the AU did not acquit itself that well in the Ivory Coast debacle, there is sense that it could have redeemed itself in Libya, where leadership on the AU's part was required.
AU's failures
FORMER president Thabo Mbeki makes a valid point that the West's ignorance of the African voice is more a reflection of the "the wrong attitude" in the world rather than the African Union being weak.
But that is arguably partial representation of the true picture if the developments in Ivory Coast and Libya earlier this year are anything to go by.
Mbeki said on Monday there was an attempt to ignore the African voice - specifically the AU proposals on Africa. A closer look at the Ivory Coast scenario, though, tended to portray an AU that failed to assert itself at a critical moment and therefore was out-manoeuvred by the French in chiselling an inclusive peace arrangement.
If the AU did not acquit itself that well in the Ivory Coast debacle, there is sense that it could have redeemed itself in Libya, where leadership on the AU's part was required.