The Superpowers and Africa: The Constraints of a Rivalry, 1960-1990

Zaki Laidi

ISBN 10: 0226467813 / ISBN 13: 9780226467818

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1990

About this Item

Ancien livre de bibliothèque avec équipements. Sans jaquette. Couverture différente. Edition 1990. Ammareal reverse jusqu'à 15% du prix net de cet article à des organisations caritatives. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Book Condition: Used, Good. Former library book. No dust jacket. Different cover. Edition 1990. Ammareal gives back up to 15% of this item's net price to charity organizations.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Superpowers and Africa: The Constraints of a Rivalry, 1960-1990
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226467813
• ISBN 13: 9780226467818
• Binding: No jacket
• Condition: Bon

About this title

Synopsis

That Africa—one of the superpowers' crucial diplomatic and economic battlegrounds—now verges on political developments as dramatic as those of eastern Europe compels us to consider the tremendous influence that East and West have wielded in recent African political development. Drawing from American diplomatic archives, firsthand interviews, and the African and international press, Zaki Laidï presents a historical analysis of how the dialectical relationships of the United States, Soviet Union, and African actors evolved to their present state.

The lapse of European influence in the 1960s left a diplomatic void, which the superpowers rushed to fill. Just as Dien Bien Phû and the Suez crisis thrust Asia and the Near East, respectively, into the diplomatic spotlight, so the Angolan crisis lent a multifaceted cast to Africa's international relations. The ebb and flow of African crises is now linked to the rhythm of superpower relations, but Laidï is quick to warn that Africa's internal political circumstances shape the boundaries for external influence and constrain any efforts of the superpowers to exert total control.

Laidï's provocative study, here in its first English translation, addresses diplomatic strategy, often neglected economic considerations, the growing influence of the Bretton Woods institutions, and the decline of French influence in Africa.

About the Author

Zaki Laïdi, cofounder of the journal Politique Africaine, is professor of international relations at the Institut d’Études Politiques and the Sorbonne in Paris. He is the author of Enquête sur la Banque Mondiale.