Africa in World Politics ─ Constructing Political and Economic Order

The sixth edition of Africa in World Politics focuses on challenges African states face in constructing viable political economies in contexts both of familiar domestic challenges and an unprecedented mix of engagements, opportunities, and threats emanating from a turbulent and rapidly changing international order. This text, including new chapters on Nigeria and the influence of party politics on economic development, remains an invaluable resource for students of African politics seeking to navigate the continent’s complex political and economic landscapes. Revised chapters consider both the extent and the limits of continued healthy growth rates in many countries; the impacts of investments by China and other BRICS countries; plateaus and some reversals in progress on human rights and democratization; dimensions of chronic state weakness deepened by insurgencies, including some that are connected to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State; and peacebuilding efforts struggling to uphold responsible sovereignty in the Sudans, the Great Lakes region, and elsewhere.

John W. Harbeson is professor emeritus of political science in the Graduate School and at City College of the City University of New York and a professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS and the Elliot School of International Affairs of George Washington University.

The late Donald Rothchild was professor of political science at the University of California at Davis.