Africa: Unity, Sovereignty, and Sorrow
Brimming with arguments, ideas, and penetrating analyses.... Englebert offers new angles on old controversies, all reflecting erudite scholarship, deep historical knowledge, and rigorous methodology.... Refreshingly contrarian yet totally commonsensical, his book is meant to become an instant classic. --Célestin Monga, Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy and World BankOne might quibble about the paradoxes of Africa and its institutions, and about the objective indicators of state crisis, but one cannot deny the provocative seriousness with which this richly documented book poses the question of agency in Africa. --Francis B. Nyamnjoh, CODESRIAPierre Englebert's new book is an important contribution to one of the major questions of world politics. Why, in an era when horrific violence can be caused by even small groups, do weak African states survive? Englebert shows for the first time in a comprehensive, comparative manner how international sovereignty manifests itself at the regional and local levels to produce often unintended allegiances. --Jeffrey Herbst, Miami University