Since the end of colonialism and the emergence of independent nation states in Africa more than five decades ago, regional integration was embraced by the African leadership as the best way to overcome the debilitating effect of the balkanization of the continent into a large number of mostly nonviable national states. The notions of pan-Africanism, African Unity (AU) and African fraternity inspired, legitimized and underpinned the various efforts towards the integration goal starting with the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), its successor the AU and the subsequent establishment of eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in African sub-regions. In spite of the logic and imperative force of the ideal, the transformation in Africa from interstate cooperation to supranational integration has not yet been made in any of the applicable areas or levels of interaction. The main stumbling block in this process was and still is `nationalism', the nation state, a colonial creation in Africa. The question thus arises whether integrative cooperation, which characterizes intrastate relations in Africa, will at some point metamorphose into the creation of a "United States of Africa" (USAf), or whether other regional and sub-regional permutations of African integration, like a Union of African States will become possible, or, finally, will Africa simply muddle along the same road as before. This paper explores the possibilities in this regard.

How regionalization is explained, interpreted or evaluated depends mainly on the definition of the concept. The dominant contemporary theoretical approach, referred to as the New Regionalism Approach (NRA) is a broad, all-inclusive, multidimensional approach, covering all disciplines and all interstate activities. Under the NRA, therefore, "integration is conceptualized as a multidimensional and socially constructed phenomenon, wherein cooperation occurs across economic, political, security, environment and other issues. It involves not only state actors but also private industry and civil society". Important to note from this NRA definition is that regional integration may or may not involve the nation state; implying, therefore that sub-state level interaction across national borders also qualify as regional integration.

The so-called `old regionalism' awards a central position to the nation state: the nation state, according to this approach, must undergo a metamorphosis in order to become part, to a greater or lesser degree, of a larger entity, referred to by Phillipe Schmitter as a Transnational Regional Organization (TRO). Only when the TRO evolves into a Trans-Regional Polity (TRP), "acquiring some legitimate capacity (however limited) to act on its own by initiating proposals, making decisions, and/or implementing policies, only then the regionalism can be said to switch from cooperation to integration". In essence, statecentrism must be superseded by supranationalism. In terms of the Schmitter definition, therefore, integrative processes in Africa, and for that matter most, if not all, TROs outside the European Union context, are yet to progress from cooperation to integration.

Of course, bearing in mind that integration is a variable condition rather than a fixed concept, and that there is no generally accepted or essentialist definition of the concept, the various approaches to recanalization do not stand in a zero-sum relationship. By including a complexity of variables in its theoretical arsenal, the multidimensional focus of NRA adds to the better understanding of the complexities of integration phenomenon. But, at the same time, care must be taken to avoid a veritable theoretical supermarket approach where `everything is related to everything else'. Relevance and congruency are important attributes of any political theory and the question is how these theoretical approaches, separately or combined, could be synthesized into a useful analytical instrument to explain the uniqueness of African integration. Theory should add to understanding, explaining, and prediction of reality. As stated by Cox, "theory .... follows reality in the sense that it is shaped by reality. But it also precedes the making of reality in the sense that it orients the minds of those who by their actions reproduce or change that reality." So, perhaps, one should not be too fastidious about the terms `old regionalism' and `new regionalism' bearing in mind the Chinese proverb that it does not really matter whether the cat is white or black as long as it can catch mice!

International Relations Journal, Integrative Cooperation, Organization of African Unity, OAU, Regional Economic Communities, RECs, United States of Africa, USAf, New Regionalism Approach, NRA, Transnational Regional Organization, Pan-African Parliament, European Parliament, Cold War.