ABSTRACT

The African continent has always featured prominently in global relations. The ancient and historical interaction of the civilizations in Carthage, Egypt and Nuba with the Roman Empire are illustrations of this fact. The issue has been that Africa’s international relations have not necessarily always been on its own terms. Africa’s international relations have often been defined and oriented by the dominant international and geopolitical agendas of the day. As such, Africa has more often than not been the subject of international relations dictated by external actors. As a direct consequence of this fact, the chronicles of Africa’s international relations are also dominated by the perspectives of those who have invaded, enslaved, colonized and exploited the continent. This book is a timely attempt to document Africa’s international relations from a range of perspectives from authors based within the continent as well as outside the continent.