Taken from an eponymous international conference organized in 2004 by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in Senegal and the Development Policy Management Forum in Ethiopia, the 16 papers presented here by Adejumobi (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) and Olukoshi (CODESRIA) examine the role of the African Union in promoting development in Africa. Opening chapters discuss historical and contextual issues, including the history of pan-Africanism, the development of the African Union from the Organization of African Unity, the African experience of popular participation in development, the logic of West African integration, and comparison of the African Union and the European Union. The next group of chapters examine institutional topics, including the debate on national autonomous development; the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the African Peer Review Mechanism, and institutional change; civil society and African Union architecture; and challenges of agricultural development and food security in relation to the New Partnership for Africa's Development initiative. The remaining papers discuss challenges in transforming Africa's multilateral security institutions; regional initiatives on governance; security, democratization, and regional political integration in the Southern African Development Community region; and African Union approaches to the crisis in Darfur. Annotation 2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
