
BNP 046: Talk-Shop in Dangerous Times?: African Union Faces Its Moment of Truth
The Bad Natives Podcast.
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As African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa February 14-15, 2026, for the 39th AU Summit, the Union confronts its sternest test since 2002. From water security and reparatory justice to cyber-warfare, sham elections and a cash-strapped Somalia mission, critics say the AU looks weak and “tin-eared.” With Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye assuming the chair amid the DRC war, and calls for pragmatic peacekeeping reforms growing louder, this episode asks: can the AU reinvent itself — or is Africa outgrowing its own Union?
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