Introduction: A New Friend from the South?

Abstract

Pijović tells the largely unknown story of Australia’s engagement with Africa by examining two key questions: what does Australia want in Africa, and what kind of an emerging engager with Africa is Australia. He argues that Australia is unable to asses it strategic and long-term interests on the continent because of two main reasons: a colonialist and racist history of engagement with Africa that still informs some of the thinking on Africa within Australian politics, and a politically partisan, fickle, and volatile contemporary engagement with Africa. Hence, in contrast to other ‘new’ actors or emerging countries engaging with Africa, Australia does not know what it wants in Africa. This makes it a sui generis emerging engager with Africa.