AU-EU "Strategic Partnership": Strengthening Policy Convergence and Regime Efficacy in the African Peace and Security Complex?

This article appraises strategic partnership between the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU). It examines the context and nature of AU and EU security relations and explores the conditions under which partnership has a positive impact in this regard. This includes an evaluation of convergence between the two organizations and its effect or lack thereof on African security. The article concludes that events leading up to and initiatives following the 2007 Joint Africa-European Union Strategy have produced a degree of AU and EU convergence, which has had limited impact on the efficacy of the African security regime, the level of which remains mediocre at best.