2:00-3:45 p.m.
Joint Program of Sections on Africa and Minority Groups

• Bernard Kenneth Freamon, Seton Hall University, and Chair and Program Chair, Section on Africa
• Adrien Katherine Wing, University of Iowa, and Chair, Section on Minority Groups

Speakers:

• Francis M. Deng, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
• Robert B. Kent, Roger Williams University
• Muna B. Ndulo, Cornell Law School
• Daniel Ngwepe, Political Officer, Embassy of Republic of South Africa, Washington, D.C.

  At their annual summit in July 2001, African Heads of State officially established the Africa Union (AU), an intergovernmental body modeled loosely after the European Union. The new AU replaces the 38-year-old Organization of African Unity (OAU). The new organization has ambitious plans, including the establishment of a pan-African parliament, an executive, an assembly, a court of justice, and a common market, with a central bank and, hopefully, a common currency. The new AU received an enthusiastic and hopeful inauguration, hosted by Thabo Mbeki and the South African government this past summer.

  Is this new organization a pipe dream, like many other African initiatives, or does it have the realistic potential to assist African states in solving some of the huge problems that confront them? The EU model is an excellent one and perhaps a recipe for success. On the other hand, massive debt, sustainable development issues, woeful lack of democratization, transparency and corruption, the HIV epidemic, terrorism, illiteracy, and marginalization in an increasingly global economic environment are just a few of the daunting problems confronting African states and the AU. Each of the panel members has written about and worked directly with these issues and will use his unique perspective to discuss his view of the new AU's potential. Additionally, each panel member will comment on recent American economic and political initiatives in Africa and evaluate whether the United States can be of assistance to the AU.

  Business Meeting of Section on Africa at Program Conclusion