Errol A. Henderson is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University.

This important book challenges prevailing theories of international relations and war. Henderson offers an Afrocentric analysis of conflict behavior of African states since independence, including internal and international wars, informed but not bound by existing theoretical paradigms. In the end, he demonstrates the necessity of testing global theories in regional and other contextual settings and of formulating approaches that do justice to their specific historical, cultural, and institutional conditions. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, he contends that African states’ conflict behavior is best explained by a 'neopatrimonial balancing thesis' that upends or modifies conventional realist, democratic peace and liberal trade theses, at least insofar as they apply to Africa. The research and policy implications of Henderson’s findings are only briefly noted at the end; they certainly invite reconsideration of the ways scholars and policy practitioners frame and formulate their respective approaches to addressing contemporary African conflicts. Highly recommended for college and university libraries and collections supporting African and international studies, peace and conflict programs, and larger public library systems. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

• List of Figures and TablesMap of AfricaAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: International Relations and Africa: A Mélange of Metaphors, aDearth of TheoryChapter 2: Africa’s Wars as New Wars: Dubious Dichotomies andFlattening History Chapter 3: Africa, Racism, and World Politics: Dualism and the Persistenceof PrimitivismChapter 4: Socialization and the Domestic Sources of Africa’s InternationalWarsChapter 5: Africa’s International Wars: Inverted Legitimacy andNeopatrimonial BalancingChapter 6: Disturbing the Peace: Africa’s International Wars and theDemocratic PeaceChapter 7: Liberal Trade Theory, Regional Institutionalism, and Africa’sInternational WarsConclusion: Towards African Realism?References Index

Errol A. Henderson is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University.

This important book challenges prevailing theories of international relations and war. Henderson offers an Afrocentric analysis of conflict behavior of African states since independence, including internal and international wars, informed but not bound by existing theoretical paradigms. In the end, he demonstrates the necessity of testing global theories in regional and other contextual settings and of formulating approaches that do justice to their specific historical, cultural, and institutional conditions. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, he contends that African states’ conflict behavior is best explained by a 'neopatrimonial balancing thesis' that upends or modifies conventional realist, democratic peace and liberal trade theses, at least insofar as they apply to Africa. The research and policy implications of Henderson’s findings are only briefly noted at the end; they certainly invite reconsideration of the ways scholars and policy practitioners frame and formulate their respective approaches to addressing contemporary African conflicts. Highly recommended for college and university libraries and collections supporting African and international studies, peace and conflict programs, and larger public library systems. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

• List of Figures and TablesMap of AfricaAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: International Relations and Africa: A Mélange of Metaphors, aDearth of TheoryChapter 2: Africa’s Wars as New Wars: Dubious Dichotomies andFlattening History Chapter 3: Africa, Racism, and World Politics: Dualism and the Persistenceof PrimitivismChapter 4: Socialization and the Domestic Sources of Africa’s InternationalWarsChapter 5: Africa’s International Wars: Inverted Legitimacy andNeopatrimonial BalancingChapter 6: Disturbing the Peace: Africa’s International Wars and theDemocratic PeaceChapter 7: Liberal Trade Theory, Regional Institutionalism, and Africa’sInternational WarsConclusion: Towards African Realism?References Index

Errol A. Henderson is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University.

This important book challenges prevailing theories of international relations and war. Henderson offers an Afrocentric analysis of conflict behavior of African states since independence, including internal and international wars, informed but not bound by existing theoretical paradigms. In the end, he demonstrates the necessity of testing global theories in regional and other contextual settings and of formulating approaches that do justice to their specific historical, cultural, and institutional conditions. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, he contends that African states’ conflict behavior is best explained by a 'neopatrimonial balancing thesis' that upends or modifies conventional realist, democratic peace and liberal trade theses, at least insofar as they apply to Africa. The research and policy implications of Henderson’s findings are only briefly noted at the end; they certainly invite reconsideration of the ways scholars and policy practitioners frame and formulate their respective approaches to addressing contemporary African conflicts. Highly recommended for college and university libraries and collections supporting African and international studies, peace and conflict programs, and larger public library systems. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

• List of Figures and TablesMap of AfricaAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: International Relations and Africa: A Mélange of Metaphors, aDearth of TheoryChapter 2: Africa’s Wars as New Wars: Dubious Dichotomies andFlattening History Chapter 3: Africa, Racism, and World Politics: Dualism and the Persistenceof PrimitivismChapter 4: Socialization and the Domestic Sources of Africa’s InternationalWarsChapter 5: Africa’s International Wars: Inverted Legitimacy andNeopatrimonial BalancingChapter 6: Disturbing the Peace: Africa’s International Wars and theDemocratic PeaceChapter 7: Liberal Trade Theory, Regional Institutionalism, and Africa’sInternational WarsConclusion: Towards African Realism?References Index