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The OAU’s Administrative Secretary-General

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

B. David Meyers
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Abstract

Our understanding of the roles of Secretaries-General of regional international organizations can be enhanced by the use of a four-part framework, derived from studies of the secretariats of the League of Nations, the United Nations, and the International Labor Organization. This framework emphasizes the legal-institutional authority granted the office; the material and non-material resources available to the incumbent; the effects of splits among the organization's members; and the personal qualities and beliefs of the officeholder. Use of it helps to provide an up-to-date assessment of the role of the Administrative Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and an analysis of some of the reasons for the powerlessness of the position. All four of the above-mentioned factors have contributed to the continued weakness of the OAU's head.

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Articles
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International Organization , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , Summer 1976, pp. 509 - 520
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 1976

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References

1 The background sources on Secretaries-General drawn upon for this study are: Cox, Robert, “The Executive Head: An Essay on Leadership in International Organization,” International Organization 23 (Spring 1969): 205–30;CrossRefGoogle ScholarGordenkar, Leon, The UN Secretary-General and the Maintenance of Peace (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967)Google Scholar; Young, Oran, The Intermediaries: Third Parties in International Crisis (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zacher, Mark, “The Secretary-General: Some Comments on Recent Research,” International Organization 23 (Autumn 1969): 932–50Google Scholar; and Schwebel, Stephen, The Secretary-General of the United Nations: His Political Powers and Practice (New York: Greenwood Press, 1952)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 This emphasis is most clearly seen in Schwebel, The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Chapter 1.

3 Ethiopia, , Ministry of Information, Addis Ababa Summit, 1963. (Addis Ababa: Ministry of Information, 1963): p. 53Google Scholar.

4 Organization of African Unity, Ninth Ordinary Session, Kinshasa, , 09 1967, Report of the Administrative Secretary-General Covering the Period from February to August 1967Google Scholar. CM/157.

5 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, July 1975, p. 3684.

6 Telli, Diallo, “The Organization of African Unity in Historical Perspective,” African Forum 1 (Fall 1965): 25Google Scholar.

7 OAU Document AHG/Res. 33 (II).

8 Africa Research Bulletin, Economic, Financial and Technical Series, February 15-March 14, 1974, p. 3032.

9 Ibid., pp. 3031–32.

10 Keesing' s Contemporary Archives, May 20–26,1974, p. 26530.

11 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, June 1974, p. 3258.

12 OAU Documents AHG/Res. 7(1); AHG/Res. 38(11) para. 5; CM/Res. 32(111).

13 OAU Documents CM/Res. 70(V) para. 6; AHG/Res. 38(11) para. 6.

14 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, May 1973, p. 2844.

15 Material and non-material resources are discussed in Young, , The Intermediaries, particularly pp. 81–90Google Scholar.

16 Cox, , “The Executive Head,“ p. 29Google Scholar; Young, , The Intermediaries, pp. 152–55, 357–58, 379–82Google Scholar; and Zacher, , “The Secretary-General: Some Comments…,“ pp. 943–44Google Scholar.

17 Zacher, , “The Secretary-General: Some Comments…,“ p. 944Google Scholar.

18 Ibid., p. 938ff.; Gordenkar, , The UN Secretary-General…, p. 48Google Scholar; and Young, The Intermediaries, Chapter 3. Unlike these authors I have separated the qualities ascribed to the man from those ascribed to the office.

19 New York Times, July 22, 1964, p. 2.

20 Telli, , “The Organization of African Unity…,” p. 25Google Scholar.

21 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, May 1967, p. 773.

22 Confidential interview. November 8, 1968.

23 Quoted in Polhemus, James, The Organization of African Unity and Intrasystem Conflict Management, 1963–1968.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Duke University, 1971, p. 108Google Scholar.

24 Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa) February 29,1968.

25 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, June 1971, p. 2124.

26 Ibid., February 1971, p. 2008.

27 Ibid., January 1968, pp. 943–44.

28 Ibid., June 1972, p. 2498.

29 Woronoff, Jon, “Interview: Nzo Ekangaki of the OAU,” African Report 17 (09–11 1972): 21Google Scholar.

30 Keesing' s Contemporary Archives, July 8–14, 1974, p. 26612.

31 Ibid.

32 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, July 1974, p. 3259.

33 Ibid, p. 3356.

34 From an interview in African Report 19 (11–12, 1974), p. 9Google Scholar.

35 Ibid.

36 Africa Research Bulletin, Political Series, July 1974, p. 3259.