Why the U.S. Must Lead the Movement to Award the African Union a Permanent Seat on the Security Council

This paper argues that the United States could benefit substantially from leading the movement to award the African Union (AU) a permanent seat, with veto powers on the United Nations Security Council, because it could lead to the U.S. increasing its influence and legitimacy in that organization due to Africa's support. Utilizing mostly media accounts in recent years, this paper will briefly examine U.S.-UN relations in the past decade, and the increasing challenge coming from world powers such as France and Germany combined, in their attempts to reduce American influence at that international body