States and power in Africa comparative lessons in authority and control

Abstract

Theories of international relations, assumed to be universally applicable, have failed to explain the creation of states in Africa. There, the interaction of power and space has been dramatically different from what occurred in Europe. In this groundbreaking book, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state building process in a truly comparative perspective, examining the problem of state consolidation from the precolonial period, through the short but intense interlude of European colonialism, to the modern era of independent states. Herbst's bold contention that the conditions now facing African state builders existed long before European penetration of the continent is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything. In identifying how the African state building process differs from the European experience, Herbst addresses the fundamental problem confronting African leaders how to extend authority over sparsely...