International Relations in Africa before the Europeans

Abstract

This article analyses the nature of international relations in West-Central Africa before the en masse arrival of Europeans in the late fifteenth century. Several different viewpoints are employed to describe these relations. Firstly, the different types of political units found in the region are discussed, and, secondly, regional trade, war, slavery, and norms and values are detailed to demonstrate the extent to which these practices connected African states. The argument is that these states made up a unique international system, one that was markedly different from other historical systems such as that in Western Europe. The case accordingly raises important issues about how we think about international systems, and about how international systems such as this one fit into the context of international history. In its entirety the study fills a significant void in the existing literature, which otherwise has very little to say about African international relations and its history.