Abstract
Like other regions of the South in world politics, Africa has been greatly affected by the interests and ambitions of external powers. During the sixteenth century, the slave trade began to integrate black Africa into the global division of labor, but most of the continent was not incorporated into the global political system until the latter part of the nineteenth century. As Ronald Robinson and John Gallagher show in their classic Africa and the Victorians, Africa acquired new strategic significance after the opening of the Suez Canal made control of Egypt critical to British imperial policy; the scramble for Africa was triggered by Britain’s response to Egyptian nationalism. With the demise of colonialism, Africa became a geopolitical stake in the rivalries of the Cold War era. Today, Africa’s place in the new distribution of power is being redefined.
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Notes
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© 1999 Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
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Chazan, N., Lewis, P., Mortimer, R., Rothchild, D., Stedman, S.J. (1999). Africa in World Politics. In: Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14490-7_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14490-7_13
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