| Summary/Abstract |
Does the African Union (AU) have an anti-atrocities strategy, and if so, how would one recognize it and assess its impact? This paper proposes two manners of responding to these questions. In this first instance, we can analyse whether the AU has implemented an anti-atrocities agenda that resembles efforts elsewhere, notably at the United Nations. Another approach would be to examine what distinct strategies, strengths, and capacities that the AU brings to the work of reducing threats of mass violence against civilians. This second approach reveals how the AU has innovated a politics of protection. Assessing the AU as both implementer and innovator of protection suggests a more complex picture of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses than assessing either role alone, and reveals that overemphasizing the importation of an agenda developed elsewhere may ultimately undermine the organization’s core capacities.
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