Introduction: A Continent in Transition

Africa was the last battle ground of colonial ambition, of the cold war, and today finds itself inching towards being a new battle ground for what has been described as the “war on terror.” Behind the shadow of these phenomena that dominate headlines and histories were African activists who fought for liberation and democratization. While independence would come first, a major breakthrough in democratization came at the end of the cold war, when Africa was ridding itself of a swarm of communist, capitalist, nationalist, and apartheid dictatorships, and the call for democracy had become more audible than ever before. This shift was partly induced, on one hand, by the inability of the falling communist bloc and the loss of Western incentive to sustain dictatorships. On the other hand, a uniquely African call for democracy, a call that had been silenced by cold war politics, was once again resurfacing. A combination of these factors led Africa to glide onto what has been dubbed the “third wave” of democratic transition (Huntington, 1991). The same call also resonates behind the recent wave of revolution and transition that hit North Africa.