Interstate Conflicts in Africa: A Review

The literature reviewed in this article focuses on the question of interstate conflict in Africa. There may be some doubt as to the particular interest that such a body of work might hold for those not initiated in the “mysterious” ways of Africa. Certainly Africanists have all too frequently assumed as much, and students of international relations have often readily concurred in this judgment. In no area of the world is William T. R. Fox's assessment that regional studies have tended to be “written in a comparative politics rather than an international relations context” more accurate. In contrast to this widely held view it is the contention of the present writer that the study of interstate conflict in Africa should be and, in fact, is of immense interest both to the scholar and the practitioner of international relations.