This reading list explores how African states and the continent as a whole engage with the international system. The articles included in this list cover topics such as the politics of regional religious governance, the influence of foreign powers such as China through aid regimes and resource exploitation, and new approaches to engaging with local actors in tackling organized crime and health crises.
Discussion questions:
a) To what extent is the future a battle between the Global West and Global East for the Global South?
b) Is a separation of global orders inevitable?
Discussion questions:
a) What role does civilisation play oin Ethiopia's bid for regional status?
b) Was Ethiopia's decline inevitable?
Discussion questions:
a) How have church-state relations changed in west Africa?
b) What role do theological actors play in regional governance?
Discussion questions:
a) How do African views of Islam vary?
b) What are the implications of rejectionist Islam to notions of state in Africa?
Discussion questions:
a) How have racial biases permeated International Relations scholarship on Africa?
b) Can perspectives of alternativity facilitate the decolonization of International Relations?
Discussion questions:
a) How significant is the African nuclear free zone?
b) To what extent was the creation of the African nuclear free zone a demonstration of independence?
Discussion questions:
a) How effective are strategies of decapitation?
b) Has the Boko Haram challenge finally been met?
Discussion questions:
a) Was Somaliland's turn towards authoritarianism inevitable?
b) How influential are corporate bodies in de facto states?
Discussion questions:
a) How successful is Djibouti in playing off the great powers against each other?
b) Is the Djiboutian case-study an example of Chinese imperialism?
Discussion questions:
a) How indicative is the Burundi example of the challenges of post-conflict reconciliation?
b) How important are local elites in shaping post-conflict statebuilding processes?
Discussion questions:
a) How are environmental changes contributing to the conflict in the Sahel?
b) How can ecological projects support peacebuilding?
Discussion questions:
a) How central have leaders been to the prevention of atrocities in Africa?
b) Do the examples of Khama, Kaunda and Nyerere highlight that International Relations places too much emphasis on structure rather than agency?
Discussion questions:
a) How should security be defined in relation to Africa's extractive sectors?
b) What is hybrid security and what impact does it have on the accountability of security forces?
Discussion questions:
a) To what extent are we witnessing a competition among international aid donors?
b) Will China's increasing involvement in the aid sector shift the relative power balance to recipient countries?
Snapshot from history
The following pieces are archive material taken from an exchange between then opposition leader and independence activist (and future first President of Tanzania) Julius Nyerere and British colonial administrator C. C. Harris.
Discussion questions:
a) What does Nyerere's speech tell us about the links between white settler populations and decolonisation in Africa?
b) What can we learn from these speeches about attempts made by the British government to delay decolonisation? What role did racist civilizational discourses play in this process?
c) Analyse these speeches as an act of public diplomacy. What can we learn about the international political position of the independence movement in Tanzania prior to independence?
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