Africa and international relations: Regional lessons for a global discourse

Case studies, theories, and examples from Africa are exceedingly rare in in ternational relations. Indeed, examples from Africa are, at best, valued fo r their nuisance potential. This article argues that the study of internati onal relations is limited by this interpretation of Africa, and by a larger ignorance of African contributions. Key debates on the African continent s urrounding the central concepts of mainstream international relations, incl uding the state, power, and self-determination, are interrogated with a vie w to expanding their use in contemporary international relations. The examp les of apartheid South Africa, the African debate on political economy and development, and African perspectives on questions raised by the liberal pa radigm, are used to illustrate the importance of the region to the more glo bal discourses. In examining the important contribution of African scholars hip to debates central to international relations, this article highlights the necessity for engaging African scholars in the broader discourses of in ternational relations.