Abstract
After a long period of neglect, when former metropolises allowed former colonies to determine their own future as independent states and Europe completed tuning of the integration project, Africa found itself back in the spotlight of global actors and international relations scholars alike. Hout and Salih’s book traces African regionalisms since at least the 1960s (and in some aspects of even earlier, as the Union of South Africa in 1910), when newly born states throughout the continent tried to implement their aspirations of regional integration.
Through the in-depth research of the core tendencies in the African regionalisms, the authors observe multiple asymmetries in the development and the transformative factors for intra- and extra-regional relations. The main argument posited is that asymmetrical development in Africa is the result of the contradictions between aspirations of external actors for the future of the continent and a vision internally (at the continental and sub-regional level) of the uniqueness of the path of integration. The authors introduce the concept of ‘fear of dominance’ as an explanation of the multiplicity of regionalisms in Africa (p. 6) followed with the fragmentation of regional frameworks. The historical evolution of African regionalisms is broken down neatly into sections on the regional socio-economic circumstances of emerging asymmetries; the political processes involved in the African continent’s perceptions as ‘trouble-makers’ in the international environment. The issue of aspirations and realities in the intra-African trade regimes and extra-African relations with the world occupies a special place in the book.
Despite the title A Political Economy of African Regionalisms, Hout and Salih argue that African regionalisms are driven by more than economic processes. They explore how unequal power relations and unequal layers of development among states are influenced by extra-regional relations. Specifically, Chapter 2 reveals the ripple effect of the transformation of African regionalisms from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union. At the dawn of independence, initiated by the process of decolonization in the late 1950s, metropolises allocated African states to regional unions in an attempt to maintain pre-existing colonial political and economic ties. Obviously, the OAU, established in 1963, was built upon ideas of pan-Africanism as an ideology of decolonization. However, the authors note, by the mid-1960s African states adopted a pragmatic approach to the creation and functioning of Regional Economic Communities. Importantly, ‘the regional communities were formed with the main objective of promoting economic cooperation and trade’ (p. 38). This approach to understanding integration on the basis of self-reliance and endogenous development and the culmination of pan-Africanism was the emergence of the African Alternative Framework in 1990 and the revision of the African Union Charter in 1994. Thus, in the 1990s, Africa moved from decolonization to ‘African-style’ regional integration based on sovereign equality, the interdependence of member-states and respect of borders. However, the presence of actors such as the EU, the USA and China could not be removed. The authors highlight that material support from the EU combined with a foreign policy of exporting norms and values has not only established an enduring dependence on African regional integration projects but has also led to an emulation of norms and European-like institutions.
Peace and security are also in the focus of the analysis in this book as crucial factors that shape the dynamics of regionalism. The authors engage in a debate about the greater peacefulness of democratic regimes compared to authoritarian ones, arguing that the correspondence between democracy and peace, as well as between authoritarianism and conflict, is not linear. Chapter 4 presents extensive data on conflicts of varying degrees of severity that have characterized Africa throughout the second half of the 20th and the first half of the 21st centuries. However, it is the asymmetric and non-linear nature of the correlation between conflictuality and the type of political regime that needs to be considered when analysing the overall development of regionalism on the continent (p. 77). The authors argue that democracy and peacefulness contribute to the political asymmetries, using the mandate of the African Peace and Security Council as a tool to interfere in the internal affairs of authoritarian states on ‘good governance’ rights.
Trade links are always seen both as a factor of the development of individual states and as a driver of regional integration. However, in the analysed case of African regionalisms, the role of intra-African trade appears, contrary to expectations, to be quite low in terms of projected reduction of asymmetries. Despite AfCFTA’s widely discussed objectives in Chapter 5, the aspirations are far from reality.
Existing asymmetries in the intra-African trade in the form regional communities are partly the colonial legacy (p. 102) and have been exacerbated by mutual distrust among RECs. The authors do not articulate clearly, but the fear of losing decision-making sovereignty of RECs and anxiety about the AU becoming a single trade-negotiating institution play a crucial role in the failure of negotiations on more detailed and step-by-step procedures towards an effective AfCFTA.
Chapter 6 discusses the asymmetries between Africa and the industrialized world, not only the EU and US but also the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The authors of the study point out that numerous asymmetries are linked to the presence of old (EU, US) and new (South-South partnership, Belt and Road Initiative) partners offering different models of engagement. It is quite common for both types of partnerships to establish unequal relations (p. 119) through financial assistance mechanisms, direct investment and export-import balance. The authors focus on the emerging BRICS players, but Russia has been overlooked by the researchers, despite perhaps less economic involvement, but growing political influence on the continent since 2008.
The conclusion captures the state of coexistence of multiple regionalisms that produce new multiple asymmetries, namely: tiered cross-regional integrations, different types of powers with diverse political and economic engagement and intraregional competition.
Ultimately, this book gives a historical perspective and well-balanced view on the contradictory regional development of Africa. It is sound-researched and written for a wide audience. The book will be useful for practitioners and policymakers who need to gain background knowledge of development tendencies in Africa, as well as international studies undergraduates and postgraduates, and political scientists and political economists.