Vol 20, No 1 (2020): Decolonization, Neocolonialism and Recolonization: 60th Anniversary of the Year of Africa

The article is devoted to the features of the formation and development of Africa in the postcolonial period. The authors study such fundamental issues as the formation of modern States in Africa, the formation of the ruling elite and its influence on the political and socio-economic system, the role of the army and ethnic conflicts in the process of state formation. The relevance of the research is due to the fact that Russian and foreign historical science has not yet formed a common opinion on how to assess the consequences of the colonial period for Africa. Pluralism of opinions, on the one hand, generates the discussion for research, on the other, introduces a destructive imbalance in the representation of the region. As a novelty of the study, it’s necessary to note the neo-patrimonial approach to studying the features of the postcolonial period in Africa. It identifies separate thematic blocks that help assess the impact of colonization on the development of countries on the continent. The article also considers the correlation between the traditional and westernized elements within African political culture. The borrowing of political institutions and statehood theories is also considered not only as a consequence of the colonial past, but also as the political choice of the first national leaders of Africa, in the framework of their aspiration to choose an effective development way and to find a balance between the tradition and modernization. The main purpose of the study is to assess the results of decolonization in the context of ethnic, military and political aspects of the formation of African States. The polemic nature of the principles of understanding the postcolonial period of African development has led to the need to use a functional approach as a methodological basis. This is due to the need to study the principles of functioning of the political system of the region, rather than individual states. The neo-patrimonialist approach also gave rise to the use of a comparative method to compare the main theoretical postulates with the real situation in Africa. A vast array of sources and literature in Russian and English is needed to reflect the multi-vector possibilities of research on African issues.

Based on documents from the Russian archives - the Archive of foreign policy of the Russian Federation, the State archive of the Russian Federation, and the Russian state archive of modern history, the article examines the relations of the USSR with Zanzibar in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Soviet-Zanzibar relations are examined against the background of a complex period in the history of the island state, which included the stages of inter-party rivalry during the struggle for independence, the Zanzibar revolution itself, and the unification with Tanganyika. The author also draws attention to the ethnic composition of the Zanzibar population in the years before the start of the national liberation movement, the history of the origin of ethnic groups in the archipelago and their traditional relationships. The author examines in detail the composition and political orientation of the parties that took part in the struggle for independence. He also considers the influence of the political spectrum and the international situation of the Cold War period on the decisions of national leaders in choosing a support side for further development. The author also considers actions of two leading actors of the bipolar system, the USSR and the USA, in the struggle for influence on the young national elites of Zanzibar in particular, and then Tanzania as a whole. The author conducts a detailed analysis of the United States actions and its allies to intervene the party struggle within Zanzibar society and the further reaction of the USSR to these steps. He also considers the reasons for the decline in Soviet influence on Zanzibar and the events that led to the closure of the Soviet diplomatic missions. The author points out the ambiguity of Zanzibar and Tanganyika’s unification, which could be perceived as an artificial political act supported by interested global forces than the process of voluntary unification of the two young countries. A number of issues are considered almost for the first time in Russian historiography.

The subject of this study is the competitive relations in the political and economic spheres that have developed on the African continent in the 21st century between the French Republic and the People’s Republic of China. The author focuses on the main conflict-generating factors that caused the latent confrontation between the two countries that arose in the face of a changing geopolitical situation in the world in general and in Africa in particular. The methodological basis of this study is the comparative historical method; the work is based on the principles of historicism, reliability and scientific objectivity. Using the method of historical reconstruction allowed the author to trace the dynamics of relations between France and China over the past two decades. The work is based on the study of factual historical material, a chronicle of the events of the last decade; analytical materials published on the pages of French and Russian mass media were used. The author concludes that the basis of the conflict between Paris and Beijing lies in the desire of the Champs Elysees not only to preserve the political, economic and military-strategic preferences of France in the countries that were formerly colonies of the French Empire, but also to protect French interests in the English-speaking countries of East Africa. The rapid growth of China’s influence on the African continent, the ever more obvious expansion of the Heavenly Empire into the economies of African countries, forces France to change the paradigm of its foreign policy. If the predecessors of E. Macron, denying in words the policy of “Françafrique”, relied on the use of military force and covert operations of the French security services then the current head of the Fifth Republic in his relations with African countries prefers to use his resources on “soft power” politics. The experience gained by E. Macron during his first (not very successful) African tour in 2017 prompted him to change the tone of communication with the leaders of African countries from patronically arrogant to friendly and trusting.

Silences in the discipline of International Relations on genocide amount to a form of genocide denial, which is one of the foundations of future genocide. The paper posits that in the era of militarized global apartheid, progressive scholars are challenged to critique and expose the past and current crimes against humanity that are occurring in Africa. Drawing from the consolidation of an alternative analysis in the context of the Bandung Project, the paper analyzed the contributions of the ideas that emerged out of the anti-apartheid struggles and the struggles for reparative justice. Struggles from the Global South had culminated in the World Conference against Racism (WCAR) process, elevating the anti-racist battles as a core challenge of Africa’s International Relations. This rejuvenation and energies coming out of the protracted struggle for bread, peace and justice took the form of the transition to the African Union leaving behind the concept of the noninterference in the internal affairs of states. The paper analyzed the ways in which afro-pessimism was being reinforced by the constructivist path in African International Relations. The contributions of radical African feminists are presented as one new direction where there is the coalescence of the progressive anti-imperialist intellectual traditions with radical feminisms. These two traditions open possibilities for an emancipatory project. This project has taken on extra importance in the period of the fragility of global capital when the precariousness of capitalism threatens new and endless wars and destabilization in Africa. Modern humanitarianism forms one component of the weaponization of everything and it is within this ensemble of ideas that scholars need to deconstruct the discussion of ‘failed states’ in Africa.

This paper analyses the role of the arms trade in the growth and spread of transnational crime in Africa. The work shows that the proliferation and ready availability of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) on the continent is contributing in no small measure to political, economic and social insecurity in Africa. Major transnational crimes that the work identifies in Africa include drug trafficking, human and people trafficking, environmental crimes, arms trafficking and stolen vehicle trafficking. The work uses qualitative research methodology, which involves the extensive collection, collation and analysis of secondary data, to capture the essence and scope of the impacts of SALW on the growth and spread of transnational crime on the continent. A major and significant contribution of the work is the crucial connection that it establishes between the proliferation of SALW and the high incidence and recurrence of transnational crime in Africa. The work shows the destabilizing impacts of the proliferation of SALW in Africa and how these is contributing to the recurrence of conflicts and criminal activities on the continent. In its conclusion, the work recommends that in order for states on the continent to be able to proactively tackle transnational crime and the proliferation of SALW, they will have to do the following: carry-out an extensive and critical survey to create a database that will identify the nature of the different transnational crime that is carried-out in each regions; create (where it does not exist) and, strengthen and implement (where it exist) legislations and laws designed to tackle transnational crime; and encourage interagency cooperation and coordination among the affected states in the regions.

It is not shortage or lack of water that leads to conflict but the way how water is governed and managed. It is said that water will be, much more than oil, the major geopolitical issue of the 21st century. Although it is difficult to demonstrate this, it is clear that the increasing scarcity of the resource, on the one hand, and the configuration of its availability, on the other, are conflict-generating. In the particular case of the African continent, the large catchment basins of the Nile, Niger and Chad, shared by many states of unequal power, are the scene of inefficient hydro-diplomacy. Indeed, north to south, the Nile Delta is 161 km long and covers the coastline of Egypt from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east. Egypt with 100 mln population is de facto the principal hydro-hegemon state in the Nile basin. Nevertheless, a couple of riparian states, as Ethiopia (105 mln population), have taken measures in order to challenge this status quo: the signature and launching of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), the signature of Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the signing of the Declaration of Principles Agreement. The article attempts to analyse the urgency of the problem of water resources allocation in Africa with particular focus to the Nile basin and the complexity of agreements regulating the issue dating back to the colonial era. The study also emphasizes the difficulties bilateral and multilateral aids faced while trying to solve a conflict. As Nile for many states is not just a source of water, it is the host of a fragile ecosystem, essential for maintaining the environmental and ecological balance of North-East Africa.

Academician Apollon B. Davidson is an outstanding Soviet and Russian expert in African history, British Studies, also known as a specialist in Russian Silver Age literature. He is an author of more than 500 scientific papers, including 11 monographs, most of which are devoted to the new and recent history of the countries of Tropical and South Africa. Graduate of Leningrad State University (1953), Professor (1973), Doctor of Historical Sciences (1971), Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2011). Under his leadership, at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences a scientific school of African history based on archival documents was created. He prepared more than 30 candidates and doctors of sciences, among famous students - A. Balezin, S. Mazov, I. Filatova, G. Derlugyan. In 2001-2002 two volumes of documents “Russia and Africa” [Davidson 1999] were published under his editorship; the book “USSR and Africa” [Davidson, Mazov, Tsypkin 2002], in 2003 - the volume of documents “Comintern and Africa” [Davidson 2003]. In 2003, a two-volume edition of the documents “South Africa and the Communist International” [Davidson, Filatova, Gorodnov, Johns 2003] was published in London in English, and in 2005-2006 - the fundamental three-volume “History of Africa in Documents” [Davidson 2005-2006]. In 1988, he participated in the South African program at Yale University. In 1991, he lectured for several months at universities in South Africa and worked in the archives of this country. In 1992-1993 he worked at the Rhodes University, in 1994-1998 organized and chaired the Center for Russian Studies at the University of Cape Town. In 1981-1991 he visited Ethiopia, Angola, Lesotho, Botswana and several times - Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. From 1977 to 1991 he participated in the Soviet-American Dartmouth conferences as an expert on Africa. In his interview he talks about the outcome of decolonization for southern Africa, the actual problems of the modern development of the continent, the role of China in Africa, and the Afro-Asianization of the world. Special attention is paid to the problems and prospects of the development of Soviet and Russian African studies and Russian-African relations.

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