Africa in International Politics: the interafrican system and its world insertion

Abstract

Africa in International Politics - interafrican system and its world insertionA Africa na Politica Internacional - O sistema interafricano e sua insercao mundial, written by Paulo Fagundes Visentini, full professor of International Relations at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, is an important contribution to both African studies in Brazil and to general knowledge in field of international relations for country as a whole. The author, a renowned Brazilian historian and an international relations expert, detains vast academic publications and has been for some time now dedicating himself to study and analysis of Brazil-Africa relations, international insertion of African states and formation and development of interafrican system itself. Therefore, book here addressed is result of years of research and thoughtful consideration from author upon this theme, which included research field trips to Africa to accomplish this task.In Brazil, studies - and, consequently, knowledge and thinking about international relations in Africa - are still modest. It is, in fact, astonishing that in a country with such a territorial dimension as Brazil, long historical ties with African continent and with a significant presence of afrodescent population, not to mention enormous and increasing diplomatic, trade, economic and financial interests on the other side of Atlantic, has produced so little about African realities. In this sense, Paulo Visentini's book is a bearer of good news not only for Brazilian academy but also for a varied and not specialist public. As a matter of fact, author himself, in introduction, directs readers of university-manual format of book precisely in order to present Africa and its main analytical debates to students, its predominant target audience.The main objective of book, as clearly defined on its title, is to analyze international insertion of African states and formation of interafrican system. In order to do so, author goes through a long trajectory with aim of demonstrating that idea of an isolated continent within international scenario and internally disconnected does not hold true. Furthermore, he observes vast majority of African leaders have been for a long time paying particular attention to external context, both as a path to overcome underdevelopment and to obtain legitimacy and support to their governments. Incidentally, author defends that search for economic development is a common characteristic among African states since wave of independency, although he also considers that these states naturally present specific international agendas giving their geographical location and political and economic attributes, among other observable differences within such an ample universe within this continent.The first two chapters - first, co-authored with Analucia Danilevicz Pereira and second, with Luiz Dario Ribeiro - show precisely richness of African societies in pre-colonial times, including their interafrican fluxes and intercontinental connections, followed by an analysis of process of conquest and division of Africa by Europeans at end of 19th century and slow consolidation of colonial system, until decolonization period following World War II. This part of book, essentially historical, presents a good synthesis of whole process.From third chapter onwards, author analyzes in detail emergence and development of interafrican system and international insertion of African states. In fact, chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 can be considered a second and main part of book as author analyzes formation of African system and international insertion of new African states at same time that a periodization is proposed according to his interpretation of 1960-2009 period, approximately. …