Society Under Siege II

This report chapter examines the institutional evolution of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), detailing its transition from a focus on decolonization and state sovereignty to the establishment of a formal mechanism for conflict prevention and management in the 1990s. It analyzes the socio-economic impacts of armed conflict on African development and the OAU's challenges in operationalizing early warning systems and monitoring small arms proliferation.

• The OAU was established in 1963 by representatives of thirty-one African states with primary goals including the promotion of unity and solidarity, the eradication of colonialism, and the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• Armed conflict in Africa causes severe developmental damage by destroying physical infrastructure, disrupting agricultural production and trade, and triggering a 'brain drain' where skilled professionals flee the continent.
• In 1993, the OAU established a 'mechanism for preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts in Africa,' which deviated from previous norms by allowing the Secretary-General to act on anticipated emerging conflicts without waiting for OAU instructions.
• The OAU's conflict management efforts have been hindered by a lack of resources, inadequate information exchange between national capitals and civil society, and difficulties in designing matrices to predict incipient conflicts.

APA

Cornwell, R., Solomon, H., & Cilliers, J. (n.d.). Society Under Siege II. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CHAP5S.PDF

Chicago

Cornwell, Richard, Hussein Solomon, and Jakkie Cilliers. Society Under Siege II. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CHAP5S.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cornwell |first1=Richard |last2=Solomon |first2=Hussein |last3=Cilliers |first3=Jakkie |title=Society Under Siege II |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CHAP5S.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cornwellndsociety, author = {Cornwell, Richard and Solomon, Hussein and Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{Society Under Siege II}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CHAP5S.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }