Diplomatic means of the African Union in resolving the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire

The article is devoted to the analysis of the diplomatic means of the African Union used in the process of resolving the political and armed conflict in the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire. The focus is on the evolution of the African Union's role as a key regional actor in maintaining peace and security in Africa, as well as the specifics of its intervention in a protracted domestic political crisis. The institutional foundations of AU peacekeeping are being considered, the powers of the Chairman of the AU Commission, mediation mechanisms and interaction with subregional organizations. Special attention is paid to the diplomatic initiatives of the AU during the civil war of 2002 and the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011, including the Pretoria Agreements and the activities of the High-level Group. The article also analyzes the reasons for the limited effectiveness of these mechanisms, due to both internal institutional problems of the African Union and the political position of the conflicting parties and member States of the organization. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is based on the provisions of the theory of regionalism and the concept of collective security, as well as approaches to the analysis of international and regional organizations in the field of conflict management. The paper uses historical, political and institutional approaches to consider the evolution of the mandate and practice of the African Union in the field of peaceful settlement. The methodological tools include a systematic and structural-functional analysis, a comparative analysis of official AU, UN and ECOWAS documents, as well as case study elements used for a detailed study of the conflict in Cote d'Ivoire. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the comprehensive consideration of the diplomatic instruments of the African Union in conjunction with the practice of their use in the context of the Ivorian conflict, and not in isolation from a specific crisis situation. Unlike existing works that focus either on the role of the UN and external actors, this study integrates the AU's institutional analysis with a detailed analysis of its mediation efforts and interaction with ECOWAS and the UN. As a result, it is concluded that the African Union has faced serious limitations in their practical implementation. The key factors of inefficiency were the lack of unity among the Member States, institutional inertia and the unwillingness of the organization to resort to tougher pressure measures. At the same time, it is shown that the experience of Cote d'Ivoire has become an important stage in understanding the AU's role and has identified areas for possible modernization of its diplomatic and crisis tools to increase independence and effectiveness in future conflicts.