Other Regional Organ izations: The OAS, the AU,
and the League of Arab States
For many years, the critical question was whether other regions would follow the
Euro pean Union model: would the EU be a laboratory for others? Clearly, others
would be unlikely to duplicate precisely the circumstances surrounding the develop-
ment of the Eu ro pean Union, despite the attempts by such subregional groups as the
Economic Community of West African States and the Ca rib bean Community. Most
Asian leaders thought the Eu ro pean model inappropriate for that region. Two
continent- wide regional organ izations, the Or ga ni za tion of American States (OAS)
and the African Union (AU), have followed a dif er ent path.
At its establishment in 1948, the OAS adopted wide- ranging goals: po liti cal (now
promotion of democracy), economic (enhancing development, preferential treatment
in trade and finance), social (promotion of human rights), and military (collective
defense against aggression from outside the region and peaceful settlement of disputes
within). No other regional organ ization includes such a North/South split between
a hegemonic member such as the United States (and Canada) on the one hand and a
“southern constituency” on the other. With that division, the OAS has adopted many
of the foreign policy concerns of the hegemon: the defeat of communist/leftist factions
during the Cold War and an emphasis on democracy promotion. In 1985, the OAS
resolved to take action should an irregular interruption of democracy occur, declaring
that a member should be suspended if its government is overthrown by force. The OAS
has acted against coups or countercoups nine times, including, for example, in Haiti
(1991–94), Peru (1992), Paraguay (1996, 2000), and Venezuela (1992, 2002). It insti-
tuted sanctions against Haiti and, in 2009, suspended Honduras from membership
after that country’s coup, lifting the suspension in 2011.
The overall rec ord in achieving its po liti cal, economic, and social goals is mixed,
however, constrained by a dearth of economic resources and po liti cal will. Unlike the
EU, the OAS has played a limited role in economic development of the region. In recent
years, the OAS has devoted more attention to transnational criminal threats like
drugs, terrorism, money laundering, and human trafficking.
The African Union replaced the Or ga ni za tion of African Unity in 2002. The latter
had been deliberately designed as a weak intergovernmental body at its founding in
- The newly in de pen dent countries at the time sought to protect their new sover-
eignty. They were in no mood to permit interference in domestic afairs, and they
preferred sovereign equality of all states. Although the illegality of apartheid in South
Africa remained a rallying cry of the OAU, members were largely silent on the major
economic and development issues of the day.
238 CHAPTER SEvEn ■ IGOs, InternatIOnal law, and nGOs