Africa: A Continent Self-Destructs

Can Africa survive? Many of the nations of sub-Saharan African have all but ceased to exist as organized states: tyranny, diseases such as AIDS, civil war and ethnic conflict—and border invasions threaten the complete disintegration of a region. Peter Schwab offers a clear, authoritative portrait of a continent on the brink. Globalization and an accompanying level of economic health have passed over Africa. Added to these factors is a patronizing attitude from the West that change in Africa must take place within Western parameters, a UN that lacks any real power, and a US foreign policy in Africa that is unclear. Looking to South Africa as an example of successful Western support of an African nation, Schwab suggests that the US should use its leverage to help democrats into positions of power and then work with them under a framework dictated by the leaders themselves. It is only with a distinctly African approach to African problems that the survival of the continent can be assured.

Many of the nations of sub-Saharan African have all but ceased to exist as organized states: tyranny, diseases such as AIDS, civil war and ethnic conflict--and border invasions threaten the complete disintegration of a region. Peter Schwab offers a clear, authoritative portrait of a continent on the brink.

Peter Schwab, an authority on human rights, has published extensively on the politics of Africa. He is Professor of Political Science at Purchase College, SUNY.