African Foreign Policy in the New Millennium: From Coming Anarchies to Security Communities? From New Regionalisms to New Realisms?

Abstract

The international relations (IR) and foreign policies of Africa at the twentieth century’s end consisted of much more than inter-state/regime relations, whether intra- and/or extra-continental. This chapter seeks to develop an analysis which treats such ‘trans-national’ relations by examining the ‘foreign policies’ of companies and civil societies as well as those of regimes (Shaw 1999). The range of ‘new’ issues in the ‘human’ development/security agenda (UNDP 1994) confronting countries and communities on the continent — from ecological to technological, small arms to viruses — means that responses typically involve a fluid range of mixed actors; that is, international, intermediary and indigenous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (Nelson 1995; Cleary 1997; Dicklitch 1998) and local and global companies as well as national governments and formal inter-state regional organizations. The combination of inter-related and cumulative processes and pressures — from globalizations/neo-liberalism to privatization/devolution — means that the African state is considerably diminished in resources and legitimacy compared to the heady days just before and after independence. Yet one of the major sources of such pressure on the ‘African state’ — the World Bank — argues in its recent apparent shift in ideology (theology?!) that such regimes still have further to go in adapting by sub-contracting to companies, NGOs and other actors: ‘In a world of dizzying changes in markets, civil societies, and global forces, the state is under pressure to become more effective, but it is not yet adapting rapidly enough to keep pace’ (World Bank 1997: 15).KeywordsCivil SocietyGreat LakeForeign PolicyInternational RelationSecurity CommunityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.