Africa, African-Americans, and the avuncular Sam

This essay investigates U.S. policy toward Africa and highlights the role that African Americans have played in influencing this policy. It is inspired by the need for an urgent dialogue between Africans and African Americans on U.S. policy toward the continent. It begins by briefly assessing the ignominious roots of Africa's relationship with America and pan-Africanist efforts to liberate Africa from alien rule. It then analyzes the destructive effects on Africa of U.S. policies during the era of the Cold War. It criticizes the pernicious effects of stereotypical and simplistic coverage of Africa in the American media, and assesses U.S. policy toward Africa under the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It concludes by offering some policy recommendations for a more enlightened U.S. policy toward Africa

The eagle and the springbok : essays on Nigeria and South Africa

Abstract: ‘The Nigerian eagle must soar and the South African springbok gallop in sync, if Africa is to be reborn’ (p. 249). With this sentence, Adekeye Adebajo concludes his book. In a sense this sentence also retrospectively captures the mainly prescriptive essence of The eagle and the springbok: essays on Nigeria and South Africa, a text set to become one of the most important on this relationship, billed by Adebajo to be ‘Africa’s most indispensable’..

The evolution of South Africa's democracy promotion in Africa : from idealism to pragmatism

Abstract: South Africa is an emerging power with fairly strong democratic institutions that were crafted during the transition from minority to majority rule twenty years ago. How has South Africa used its position and power to promote democracy in Africa? Against the backdrop of debates on democracy promotion by emerging powers, this article probes attempts by successive post-apartheid governments to promote democracy in Africa. We argue that although democracy promotion featured prominently in South Africa’s policy toward Africa in the immediate post-apartheid period under Nelson Mandela, the administrations of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma faltered in advancing democratic norms. This is largely because South Africa has confronted pressures to maximize pragmatic national interests, which have compromised a democratic ethos in a continental environment where these values have yet to find steady footing

Regionalism and African agency : negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and SADC-Minus

This article investigates the regional dynamics of African agency in the case of negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and a group of Southern African countries, known as SADC-Minus. I argue that these negotiations were shaped by a pattern of differentiated responses to the choice set on offer under the EPAs by SADC-Minus policymakers and by a series of strategic interactions and power plays between them. I offer two contributions to an emerging literature on the role of African agency in international politics. First, I argue for a clear separation between ontological claims about the structure-agency relationship and empirical questions about the preferences, strategies and influence of African actors. Second, I suggest that in order to understand the regional dynamics of African agency it is important to pay close attention to the diversity and contingency of African preferences and to the role of both power politics and rhetorical contestation in regional political processes

International development : ideas, experience and prospects; chapter 19

Pre-print versionThe paper highlights how individuals with vision can move institutions to adopt ideas, while also demonstrating the institutional, regional, and external constraints on their implementation. Argentina’s Raùl Prebisch (1950–63) and Nigeria’s Adebayo Adedeji’s (1975–91) conviction about developing regional integration ultimately impacted the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) – which became the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in 1984 – and the UN Economic for Africa (ECA) respectively. This chapter assesses these individuals in promoting ideas on economic development and regional integration within the United Nations institutions during their tenure in office

The curse of Berlin : Africa after the Cold War /

Preface by Ali A. Mazrui.Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-393) and index

Pax Africana and Africa’s Post-Cold War Security Architecture : Peacemaking, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding

The University of Pretoria’s Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship (CAS) in South Africa; the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Uppsala, Sweden; and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, convened a high-level policy dialogue on "Pax Africana and Africa’s Post-Cold War Security Architecture: Peacemaking, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding." The meeting was held on 19 and 20 May 2023 in Addis Ababa. Representatives of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), as well as key policymakers from the United Nations (UN)and the European Union (EU); joined by leading academics, diplomats, and civil society activists, participated in the policy dialogue. The meeting addressed the role of key domestic, regional, and external actors in strengthening Africa’s post-Cold War security architecture across the continent’s five sub-regions. This report is based largely on key discussions and policy recommendations from the policy dialogue.  Published by: Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship (CAS), University of Pretoria, South Africa; The Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Uppsala, Sweden; and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Nordic Africa Institute's Projects on the UN Security Council and the Elected Te

Fifteen Diplomats on a Powder Keg : Africa and the United Nations Security Council

Nordic Africa Institute's Projects on the UN Security Council and the Elected Te