Frederick Cooper's model of 'gatekeeper states' - shaped as much by their international links as by their domestic practices - provides the basis for the contributors' thinking about international relations in Africa and the wider international system. The chapters explore the political implications of Africa's new relations with the old super-powers, former colonial powers, and the emerging powers from the South. These new relationships reflect and affect changing technology, infrastructure, and resource flows within and between African states. Drawing on both rich empirical cases and theoretical approaches, the book interrogates the implications of these changes on how we think about states and state systems.
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