This paper contributes to examining the African Peace and Security Architecture in light of the relationship between the African Union and the United Nations in the field of peace maintenance in Africa. In particular, it highlights the contrast between the ideal quest for autonomy underlying the African Peace and Security Architecture and its actual dependence from abroad. This dependence is assessed both in financial and in operative terms. In particular, it seems that the African Union peacekeeping missions have increasingly relied on the United Nations intervention and takeover.
