African Union peacekeeping is growing as UN missions decline: research finds a mixed record of success

When violent conflict erupts in Africa, attention often turns to the United Nations, major powers, or external donors.

Yet over the past two decades, the African Union (AU) has become one of the continent’s most important peace and security actors.

From Burundi and Sudan to Somalia, Mali and the Central African Republic, the AU and regional African organisations have deployed peace operations, mediated conflicts, monitored elections and supported political transitions.

These interventions reflect a broader ambition that Africans should play a leading role in addressing Africa’s peace and security challenges.

Despite the growing importance of these interventions, surprisingly little effort has been made to assess what’s been learned from the expanding research scholarship on them.

We are researchers interested in AU peace and security interventions.

In a recent scoping review of 186 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2026, we examined four major themes in the literature: AU approaches to peace and security intervention legitimacy of AU interventions, particularly among local populations effectiveness of AU intervention in achieving long term peace and security ownership of AU intervention both at the institutional level and among local populations.

We conclude from the review that debates about AU interventions are often framed too narrowly.

Some accounts celebrate African agency and present AU interventions as a clear alternative to external intervention.

Others emphasise dependence, limited capacity and operational failures.

The evidence suggests the reality is more complex.

AU peace and security interventions are neither clear success stories nor simple cases of dependence on external support.

Instead, they show how African actors are increasingly shaping responses to conflict while working with international partners.

The findings reveal both the promise and the limitations of AU peace and security interventions.