The African Union's standby force: Canadian foreign and defence policy options

Abstract

The recently established African Union mandates the creation of an African Standby Force. This policy paper reviews the current engagement by other Western nations with the new African Union and its Peace and Security Council to address challenges to security in Africa through the African Standby Force, its accompanying early warning system, and civil society engagement. Building on Canada's long‐standing expertise in peacekeeping and peace building, the report presents foreign and defence policy options that can put Canada in a better position to help build the indigenous capacity of Africa to address security issues, as well as to carve out a distinctly Canadian approach to peace and security on the continent. This paper makes a total of 35 specific recommendations to the Government of Canada with specific reference to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces on the roles Canada can play in supporting the AU's African Standby Force.