Africa and the International System

African independence launched into international politics a group of the world's poorest, weakest, and most artificial states. How have such states managed to survive? To what extent is their survival now threatened? Christopher Clapham shows how an initially supportive international environment has - as a result partly of political and economic mismanagement within African states themselves, partly of global developments over which they had no control - become increasingly threatening to African rulers and the states over which they preside. The author also reveals how international conventions designed to uphold state sovereignty have often been appropriated and subverted by rulers to enhance their domestic control, and how African states have been undermined by guerrilla insurgencies and the use of international relations to serve essentially private ends. He shows how awkward, how ambiguous, how unsatisfactory, and often how tragic, has been the encounter between Africa and Western conceptions of statehood.

ISBN 0521576687   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780521576680 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 520 Publisher Cambridge University Press   Published in Cambridge Imprint Cambridge University Press   Series editor Smith, Steve, Biersteker, Thomas, Brown, Chris Format Paperback   Series ISSN 50 Publication date 12 Sep 1996   Series title Cambridge Studies in International Relations Non-book description xii, 340 p. ;   Height (mm) 228 Library of Congress JX1582 .C55 1996   Width (mm) 152 DEWEY 327.6   Spine width (mm) 20 DEWEY edition DC20   Academic level Professional / Scholarly Pages 356

		Acknowledgements
		List of acronyms and abbreviations
1		Fragile states and the international system		3
2		The creation of an African international order		28
3		Domestic statehood and foreign policy		44
4		The Foreign Policies of Post-Colonialism		77
5		The politics of solidarity		106
6		The resort to the superpowers		134
7		The international politics of economic failure		163
8		The Externalisation of political accountability		187
9		The International politics of insurgency		208
10		The privatisation of diplomacy		244
11		Conclusion		267
		Notes		275
		Bibliography		311
		Index		332

"This important book proposes a major overhaul of the conventional framework for analyzing international relations in Africa." Gail M. Gerhart, Foreign Affairs "...Clapham's volume is solid, sweeping, and thoughtful. Strongly recommended for larger university libraries and other collections specializing in African or Third World studies, comparative politics, and international affairs." J.P. Smaldone, Choice

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