ABSTRACT
This collection of chapters on Africa’s international relations is timely. If there was any doubt as to the vitality and dynamism of Africa’s international relations, the chapters in this book will assuage such sentiments. There is a perceptible continental shift towards a more robust engagement with the continent. However, Africa is not yet out of the proverbial woods as far as how it engages with the rest of the world. For example, despite all of its natural resource wealth, the African continent continues to endure the vagaries of under-development. This is due to a volatile combination of internal mis-rule and a still ravenous group of global actors who are not yet satiated by their exploitation of the continent. Given where the continent has come from in terms of its historical experiences with slavery, colonialism and globalization, the prospects for Africa’s international relations are positive. The spirit of Pan-Africanism is once again gradually emerging to animate and inform how the continent will put its house in order as well as how it will engage and re-frame its relationship with its global neighbours. This concluding chapter will draw together some themes which shed light on the prospects for Africa’s international relations.
