SADC and the African Union’s Evolving Security Architecture

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The year 2003 was another one of great expectations and modest achievements for the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (the Organ). The Organ’s achievements were soon overshadowed by continental developments, as the security structures of the African Union (AU) began to take shape with surprising speed. Firstly, this chapter argues why the Organ’s achievements in 2003, although grand on paper, in reality have done little to overcome the greatest obstacles to security integration in the region. Secondly, it describes the AU’s new security architecture; and, thirdly, it discusses how SADC will manage to remain a relevant actor on the African continent in the immediate future through its role as one of the AU’s subregional ‘legs’.