When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers: the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and the decentring-recentring conundrum in EU-Africa relations
Journal: Journal of European Integration
Year: 2023

This article argues that to better understand the evolution of EU-Africa relations it is necessary to decentre the EU’s external action and concurrently recentre Africa’s international agency, while also interrogating the rise of new powers in Africa. Decentring Europe and recentring Africa means challenging the assumptions that Africa needs Europe more than Europe needs Africa and that African states should align with the EU in international settings in defence of the existing global order. By