Introduction

Abstract

The end of the cold war has changed the nature of politics in Africa, prompting close observers of the African scene to speak of a new era for democracy and political reconciliation or even a second independence for the continent.¹ The scope and momentum of change everywhere points to the emergence of a safer, more democratic, and less violent Africa. To a great extent, support by great powers has vanished because of the continent’s eroding strategic importance, forcing African leaders to face new realities. Indeed, by the 1980s, Africa was declining in importance as a site for superpower rivalry, and apart from some strategic minerals, there were few other economic interests at stake. Political demands that had fallen on deaf ears for decades resurfaced with more intensity and different results. The tsunami-like wave of democratization that began to lap the shores of the continent dictated new standards of behavior to African leaders. Even regimes desperately trying to push back the day of reckoning, hoping to weather a passing vogue for democracy through intimidation and patronage, have given in to demands for democratic reforms. In Decalo’s words:

While it is difficult to assess the longrun significance of what is currently transpiring in Africa, it is equally difficult to underestimate the magnitude of the change itself that is sweeping the continent. It is clear the pressures for democracy are continent-wide, and are irresistible. Even existing democracies have felt the heat, some moving to offer a more equitable share of social, economic and political power to opposition groups … in an effort to avoid the turmoil in neighboring countries.²

Africa lies low and is wretched. She is the maimed and crippled arm of humanity. Her great powers are wasted. Dislocation and anguish have reached every joint. Her condition in every point calls for succor—moral, social, domestic, political, commercial, and intellectual.

Alexander Crummell, Africa and America.