Description
Why have interstate wars broken out in Africa, what are their economic impacts, and what are viable solutions?
Bhaso Ndzendze examines competing explanations for these conflicts over borders and develops a new theory-Varieties of Inverted Legitimacy-that puts regime type difference at the fore of why states escalate over territories that sometimes have neither exceptional agricultural value nor any known mineral reserves.
Crucially, the book reinstates continental agency by placing emphasis on African states' own rivalries as the primary variable behind these dyadic conflicts - finding external powers to have little to no influential role in the outbreaks despite Cold War and geopolitically competitive contexts.
Using the Ogaden War (1977-78), the Uganda-Tanzania War (1978-79), and Eritrea-Ethiopia War (1998-2000) as case studies, Ndzendze traverses precolonial and post-independence histories, trade data, and state symbolism to distill the causes, costs and viable solutions to these disputes which threaten economic integration on the continent under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
1. Introducing Interstate War in Africa
Part I: Case Studies in Sovereignty
2. History, Sovereignty and Interstate War Symbolism in Africa
3. The Ogaden War and the Collapse of Somalia, 1977-1978
4. Uganda and Tanzania: War for the Kagera and Idi Amin's Fate
5. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Dilemma
6. Costs and Solutions
Part II: International System and Global Interests
7. Global Powers and Territorial Disputes in Africa
8. African Regional Powers and Territorial Disputes
Part III: Theoretical and Policy Directions
9. A Theory of Interstate Wars in Africa
10. Contemporary Territorial Disputes in Africa
Conclusion: The Future of Intra-Continental Trade, Integration and Territorial Disputes in Africa
Product details
| Published | 12 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 250 |
| ISBN | 9798216197942 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 15 b/w photos |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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