The AU has proved to itself to be ineffective. Congo, Dafur, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Niger, etc. The simple truth is North Africa and Subsaharan Africa are different. I never said there could never be a common ground, I am just saying the sentiment on which the union is presently built on is weak, cheap, and fictional. If the union was built on an industrialised and economically strong Africa that can compete with the rest of the world and deal with its problems, fine. I just find the current foundation of Pan Africanism most laughable and even insulting to the very idea. Hearing Ghadaffi speak about Pan Africanism is such an irony and an insult, considering that most of Africa seems to have ignored the obvious ethnic cleansing of the indeginous black ethnic groups that was going on in Dafur. Didn't some African leaders even protest the international warrant for the arrest of the president of Sudan? So what kind of twisted "pan africanist brotherhood" is that? We should focus on intergrating EAST AFRICA than expecting much from AU.It is another chaotic Entity...No wonder JK seems to be another Albert Einsten in volunteering AU missions.loh!