African Realism?

International Relations Theory and Africa's Wars in the Postcolonial Era

By (author) Errol A. Henderson

Publication date:

19 March 2015

Length of book:

316 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442239500

African Realism explains Africa’s international conflicts of the post-colonial era through international relations theory. It looks at the relationship between Africa’s domestic and international conflicts, as well as the impact of factors such as domestic legitimacy, trade, and regional economic institutions on African wars. Further, it examines the relevance of traditional realist assumptions (e.g. balance of power, the security dilemma) to African international wars and how these factors are modified by the exigencies of Africa’s domestic institutions, such as neopatrimonialism and inverted legitimacy. This study also addresses the inconsistencies and inaccuracies of international relations theory as it engages African international relations, and especially, its military history

List of Figures and Tables
Map of Africa
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: International Relations and Africa: A Mélange of Metaphors, a
Dearth of Theory
Chapter 2: Africa’s Wars as New Wars: Dubious Dichotomies and
Flattening History
Chapter 3: Africa, Racism, and World Politics: Dualism and the Persistence
of Primitivism
Chapter 4: Socialization and the Domestic Sources of Africa’s International
Wars
Chapter 5: Africa’s International Wars: Inverted Legitimacy and
Neopatrimonial Balancing
Chapter 6: Disturbing the Peace: Africa’s International Wars and the
Democratic Peace
Chapter 7: Liberal Trade Theory, Regional Institutionalism, and Africa’s
International Wars
Conclusion: Towards African Realism?
References
Index

This important book challenges prevailing theories of international relations and war. Henderson offers an Afrocentric analysis of conflict behavior of African states since independence, including internal and international wars, informed but not bound by existing theoretical paradigms. In the end, he demonstrates the necessity of testing global theories in regional and other contextual settings and of formulating approaches that do justice to their specific historical, cultural, and institutional conditions. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, he contends that African states’ conflict behavior is best explained by a 'neopatrimonial balancing thesis' that upends or modifies conventional realist, democratic peace and liberal trade theses, at least insofar as they apply to Africa. The research and policy implications of Henderson’s findings are only briefly noted at the end; they certainly invite reconsideration of the ways scholars and policy practitioners frame and formulate their respective approaches to addressing contemporary African conflicts. Highly recommended for college and university libraries and collections supporting African and international studies, peace and conflict programs, and larger public library systems. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.